Amid fears of third wave of COVID-19, govt says this about upcoming festive season

The number of fresh COVID-19 cases across the country has started to rise very rapidly amid discussions about the early onset of the third wave of the pandemic. This has drawn a line of concern from the government to the general public. People are getting scared once again as over 40,000 coronavirus cases are being registered in India for the last 6 days.

In a press conference on Thursday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, "In the last 24 hours, about 47,000 new corona patients have been identified. The maximum number of cases have been reported from Kerala. 69% of the coronavirus cases reported last week are from Kerala. People have to understand that the second wave is not over yet. There are still 42 districts where more than 100 cases of corona are reported daily."

Bhushan said, "Kerala alone has more than 1,00,000 active cases. At the same time, the number of active cases in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh is between 10,000 to 1,00,000. However, this is the 9th week when the weekly positivity rate in the country has been less than 3%. Whereas in 38 districts in the country, the weekly positivity rate is between 5-10 percent. Due to this, the pace of corona vaccination is being accelerated. In the month of August alone, 18.38 crore doses were administered. That is, an average of 59.29 lakh vaccines were administered in a day. In the last week of this month, we showed more speed and gave more than 80 lakh vaccines daily."

At the same time, Balram Bhargava, director of the Indian Council of Medical Research, said, "The danger still remains. The vaccine prevents the severity of the disease. But even after vaccination, a mask is necessary. Some people are careless in this and go to big events without masks. We have to refrain from doing this. Participate in the upcoming festivals only after complete vaccination. Only then can the corona pandemic be stopped."

NITI Aayog member Dr Vinod Kumar Paul said, "We have to be cautious. Festivals are coming, the season is changing. We have to adopt the vaccine, that is the only way of prevention. The time to live without a mask has not arrived yet. Festivals are to be celebrated like last year. Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri, Eid, we don't have to form crowds. All festivals are to be celebrated at home. Otherwise, what has been treasured till now can be snatched away from us. If the virus becomes mutated then the problem can increase. Pregnant women will suffer the most, so they are being advised to take the corona vaccine first. The vaccine will give complete protection to both."