'Fast reopening, slow vaccination risk renewed spike in infections'

Statesrsquo reopening strategy in the wake of decline in Covid19 cases is not ldquoprudentrdquo and might even result in rise in infections as vaccine coverage remains low in many states global forecasting firm Oxford Economics said on WednesdayIn a report it also said ldquoWe remain cautious and maintain our 2021 growth forecast at 91 per centrdquo citing that economic data does not support an upward revision at this pointOxford Economics also said vaccination rates are far below the levels deemed to be safe for easing social distancing measures substantially in the more populous and economically important statesAccording to the report reopening has commenced at a faster pace than it had anticipated as states have focused on declining test positivity rates as the guiding factor for easing measures rather than the share of population vaccinatedldquoFrom a daily case count of over 4 lakh during the peak of the second Covid19 wave the numbers have been hovering around 50000 in the last few days and the unlock process is underway across citiesldquoThis strategy could create a challenge going forward if infections increase again especially as we head towards the festive months and vaccine coverage remains low in many states including the more populous onesrdquo it saidOxford Economics noted that while high frequency indicators for June have improved as states have relaxed restrictions the hit to activity in May appears to be larger than its initial assessmentldquoThis may lead us to lower our Q2 2021 growth forecast once we have greater clarity on economic progress through Junerdquo it addedTotal cases past 3 croreIndiarsquos total tally of Covid19 cases crossed the 3 croremark with one crore infections being added in 50 days On Wednesday morning the Union Health Ministry added 50848 new cases and 1358 fatalities registered in a span of 24 hours41 Delta plus cases reported across 4 statesA man undergoes Covid19 test in New Delhi on Wednesday PicPTIUnion Health Ministry on Wednesday said around 40 cases of the Delta plus variant which is considered highly infectious and has been classified as a variant of concern VOC have been detected sporadically in three statesldquoAs of now among the samples sequenced 45000 in India Delta plus variant mdash AY1 mdash has been observed sporadically in Maharashtra Kerala and Madhya Pradesh with around 40 cases identified so far and no significant increase in prevalencerdquo it said in a statementLater in the day Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar reported the statersquos first case of Delta plus variant in Mysuru The infected person is asymptomatic and none of his contacts have contracted the virus Sudhakar said adding that he has been isolatedThe Goa government has increased surveillance along the border adjoining Maharashtra in the wake of the new variant Since the Delta plus variant has been found in Maharashtrarsquos Sindhudurg district adjoining Goa ldquosurveillance along the border has been stepped uprdquo Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters on Wednesday30028709Total no of Coronavirus cases in india so far390660Total no of deaths due to the virus in India so far643194Total no of active cases in IndiaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever