An early trend of decline in daily new COVID-19 cases and deaths has been noted in the country, the government said on May 11, indicating that the devastating second wave of the pandemic is on the wane. According to the government, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Chhattisgarh were among 18 States and Union Territories showing continued plateauing or decrease in daily new COVID-19 cases. New cases of coronavirus in India fell to 3.29 lakh after 14 days, taking the infection tally to 2,29,92,517, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on May 11. A total of 3,29,942 infections were reported in a span of 24 hours, while the death toll climbed to 2,49,992 with 3,876 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 a.m. showed. Addressing a press conference, a senior official, however, said Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Punjab were among 16 States and Union Territories showing continued increasing trend in daily new COVID-19 cases.
The ongoing second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is impacting slightly more number of younger people. The Indian Council of Medical Research director also added that the comparison of data during the first and the second wave of Covid-19 showed that there is not much age difference. ICMR Chief Dr Balram Bhargava said, “We have found that younger people are getting slightly more involved because suddenly they have gone out and there are variants also prevalent in the nation which may be affecting them as well.” According to the head of the Indian Council of Medical Research, this surge in the Covid cases in the country is because of two reasons.
The Centre had in March refuted reports of a shift in age groups. Last month, the Centre said 31 per cent of people affected in the first wave of 2020 were under the age of 30 years, while the percentage climbed to 32 in 2021. Addressing a press conference, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal, however, said Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab, Assam, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura were among the 16 states and union territories showing continued increasing trend in daily new COVID-19 cases. He further said, “We are in continued talks with vaccine manufacturers, we are also working with them to increase production capacity. There has been capacity expansion. On Cowin, the slots are getting filled swiftly, more vaccination sites will be opened in future.”
The government’s principal scientific advisor K Vijay Raghavan recently said that the country should be prepared for a third wave of the pandemic which can be thwarted if adequate precautions are taken. Since then, various reports have been claiming that this wave will impact children more. The Maharashtra government has started setting up paediatric care centres in the state preparing for the third wave.
The Covaxin shot has been already recommended by the expert panel on Covid-19 for further trials on children aged between 2 and 18 years. Covaxin, indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), is being used in adults in India’s ongoing Covid-19 vaccination drive. The trial will take place on 525 subjects at various sites, including AIIMS-Delhi, AIIMS-Patna and Meditrina Institute of Medical Sciences in Nagpur, reported PTI.
