Crisil report says Covid infections may have crossed the peak on May 6
A woman sits while waiting in a queue outside a govt fair price ration shop, during a lockdown, in Chennai, on Tuesday. Pic/AFP
As the vaccine mismanagement and the resultant shortage continue, the daily vaccination has come down to 980 per million people as of May 23, down from 1,455 per million a week earlier, down over 35 per cent, according to a report. The world average is 3,564 per million.
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The only saving grace is the continuing decline in the pandemic caseload, Crisil said in the report. This means that the infections may have crossed the peak on May 6, when the country had reported 4.14 lakh cases. Daily new cases now average 2.5 lakh, down from 3.3 lakh in the week ended May 16.
More significantly, as of Tuesday, the daily caseload has fallen below the 2-lakh mark as in the past 24 hours there were only 1,96,427 new cases. The death toll climbed to 3,07,231 with 3,511 fresh fatalities.
A medic administers a dose of COVID-19 vaccine to a woman in Srinagar on Tuesday. Pic/PTI
Though Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Delhi have vaccinated the highest proportion of their population, the pace of vaccination has declined further in May in these states. Vaccination will further slow down as the availability of the vaccine is going to take time.
Dr Gagandeep Kang, a top virologist, said India should import more Covid-19 vaccines. But “globally there is a shortage of vaccines so the only vaccines available are the Russian and the Chinese ones”, she added.
Dr Kang, professor of Microbiology at Christian Medical College in Vellore, added that deaths are expected to decline in two weeks as the number of cases is stabilising.
“We have to decide which one are we willing to buy and get those in at least till the Indian companies start to ramp up production of their vaccines. I think the government should be doing everything that it can to make sure that more doses are available. In India, if the Indian companies couldn’t ramp up, at least as a bridge, till the new companies start production of vaccines, we should import vaccines,” she said.
Flag tweets of 11 Union ministers: Congress
The Congress on Tuesday demanded that Twitter affix ‘manipulated media’ tag to tweets of 11 Union ministers for allegedly spreading false and malicious propaganda against the party.
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala has alleged that the “forged, fabricated material” and the claims made under the #CongressToolkitExposed by various ministers are identical to the material that has already been marked as ‘manipulated media’.
A child undergoes antigen test at New Delhi railway station on Tuesday. Pic/PTI
The ministers against whom the Congress has sought action are Giriaj Singh, Piyush Goyal, Smriti Irani, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prahlad Joshi, Dharmendra Pradhan, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Thawarchand Gehlot, Harsh Vardhan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Surjewala said, “It is a matter of fact that people tend to believe ‘true’ and take on face value, any information that is put up directly by a Union Minister of the Centre through his/ her official/ verified Twitter account.”
Meanwhile, the Delhi police on Tuesday said they had served notices to two Congress leaders in the ‘Covid toolkit’ case, asking them to join the probe, about 8-9 days ago. Notices were served to Congress social media head Rohan Gupta and party spokesperson MV Rajeev Gowda in connection with the probe.
‘Virus in nasal, oral cavities dies 12-24 hours after death’
Coronavirus doesn’t remain active in nasal and oral cavities 12 to 24 hours after the death of an infected person as a result of which the risk of transmission from the deceased is highly unlikely, AIIMS Forensic Chief Dr Sudhir Gupta said. “Around 100 bodies were re-tested for Coronavirus in an interval of 12 to 24 hours after death and the result was negative. The virus does not remain active at all in nasal and oral cavities 24 hours after death.”
80 held in Gujarat for religious ritual against Covid
More than 80 people were arrested for taking out a religious procession to “protect” their village from Covid-19, Gujarat police said on Tuesday. Over a 100 men and women from Lalpur village took out the procession on May 22, and police learnt about on Monday after videos went viral on social media.
Also Read: Time for a tweak? Small vaccination centres, private hospitals in Mumbai become hotspots of chaos
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2,69,48,874
Total no. of coronavirus cases in India so far
3,07,231
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far
25,86,782
Total no. of active cases in India
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