Two days after saying that a “third wave was inevitable”, Government of India’s Principal Scientific Adviser, K. VijayRaghavan said on Friday that “if we take strong measures, the third Covid wave may not happen in all the places or indeed anywhere”. His statement came after his initial assertion caused widespread panic all over the country. He, however added that strong action was needed to pre-empt the third wave. “It depends much on how effectively the guidance is implemented at the local level, in the states, in districts and the cities everywhere,” he said in a press briefing on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry said that 10 states including Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala reported 71.81% of new Covid-19 cases. Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan are also among these 10 states. However, states/UTs, including Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, are showing early signs of plateauing or decrease in daily new Covid-19 cases, said Arti Ahuja, Additional Secretary of with the ministry.
Maharashtra reported 54,022 new Covid cases, 37,386 recoveries and 898 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the state health department. Out of this, Mumbai reported 3,039 new Covid cases, 4,052 recoveries and 71 deaths in the last 24 hours. Uttar Pradesh reported 28,076 new cases, 33,117 discharges and 372 deaths in the past 24 hours. Delhi recorded 19,832 fresh cases and 341 deaths in the last 24 hours. Karnataka logged 48,781 new Covid cases, 592 deaths and 28,623 discharges in the last 24 hours. As many as 38,460 new cases and 54 fatalities were reported in Kerala on Friday. Chhattisgarh also saw a spike of 13,628 new cases, 414 fresh discharges and 208 deaths in the last 24 hours. West Bengal’s Covid tally grew by 19,216 more cases. The state also recorded 17,780 recoveries and 112 deaths in the past 24 hours.
With a total of 4,14,188 new COVID-19 cases being recorded in the last 24 hours, India again reported its highest single-day spike on the second consecutive day. On 6 May, the country had registered 4,12,262 new cases. With this, the cumulative count of cases in the country reached 2,14,91,598.
The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 16,71,64,452 as per the 8 pm provisional report.
WITH ANI INPUTS