India reports highest number of virus cases in three weeks
Country sees 44,230 new cases, 555 deaths; TN extends lockdown till Aug. 9, no new relaxations in curbs; Delhi woman doctor gets COVID-19 thrice, twice post vaccination
India reported 44,230 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the most in three weeks, the latest evidence of a worrying trend of rising cases that has forced one state to lockdown amid fears of another wave of infections.
India was batered by the Delta variant of the virus in April and May but the rate of spread of infections later eased off. It has again been rising, with higher numbers in seven of the past eight days.
The nationwide tally of infections has reached 31.57 million, according to health ministry data. Deaths rose by 555 overnight, taking the overall toll to 423,217.
Medical experts polled by Reuters in late June said the third wave of coronavirus infections was likely to hit India by October, though it would be beter controlled than the devastating April-may outbreak.
Health experts have called for faster vaccinations to stave off another big surge.
The government estimates that 67.6% of the 1.35 billion population already have antibodies against the coronavirus, with nearly 38% of the adult population of about 944 million people having received at least one vaccine dose.
The disease’s estimated reproduction rate, or R value, has also inched up in the past week,
The R value hit 1 on July 24 - meaning on average, every 10 people infected will infect 10 other people - for the first time since May when daily infections were near a peak of 400,000.
The southern state of Kerala announced a new lockdown on Thursday while movement restrictions are in place in some northeastern states reporting a rise in infection rates.
Other places, including the capital New Delhi, have recently reopened most economic activities.
TN extends lockdown till August 9, no new relaxations
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday announced the extension of COVID-19 lockdown till Aug.9, without any further relaxations. The present lockdown comes to an end on July 31. Stalin chaired a meeting here to discuss the Covid-19 spread in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states and the steps to be taken.
He said the meeting also discussed the risk of higher Covid spread due to gathering of people at certain places due to the relaxations announced earlier, and urged District Collectors and police officials to take strong action in case of lockdown violations.
He also said officials can decide on closure of places where there is large gathering of people.
Stalin also said that action can be taken against shops and other establishments that do not follow the safety protocol.
Hoteliers had earlier expected the government to allow liquor bars to function in their properties or serve alcohol in guest rooms which would ease their financial crunch. They had pointed out that the government is allowing retail sales of liquor.
Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, on Friday told the Supreme Court that it does not see any need to extend the work of Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi for the manufacture of medical oxygen as the shortage is over.
“The government refuses permission for Sterlite industry to continue operations,” lawyer Kapil Sibal told the court. The Sterlite Copper plant, which was shutered since May 2017 ater 13 people protesting against its deadly pollution were shot dead, was allowed to manufacture medical grade oxygen from April this year as a shortage arose amid the second wave of COVID-19.
A 61-year-old Delhi doctor, infected with Covid thrice and contracting both the Alpha and Delta variants ater vaccination, presents the first such documented case of two reinfections and two breakthrough infections.
Dr Veena Aggarwal, wife of late Dr KK Aggarwal, first tested positive on August 16, last year and was asymptomatic.
She took her first dose of Covishield vaccine on Feb.1 this year, followed by the second dose on March 15.
On April 12, she tested positive for the second time and had symptoms such as acute abdominal pain, fever, myalgia, and fatigue. Within 19 days, on May 3, she tested positive for the third time. The infection resulted in hypoxia, hospitalisation, and illness lasting seven weeks. Whole genome sequencing showed the second infection was caused by Alpha variant and third by Delta variant.