Coronavirus in India Latest Update Live: Fear of third wave looms as 10 states witness upward trend in Covid-19 cases

Coronavirus Third Wave India Live Update, Coronavirus Statistics India 2 August Live News: The Covid situation in India may be under control, but rising cases in some states have triggered fears of Coronavirus third wave among people. After staying near 30,000 for a few days, daily Covid-19 cases have surged above 40,000 for the past five days. Deaths linked to Coronavirus complications have also increased above 500 per day. What is more concerning is that India’s ‘R’ count (reproduction number), a key indicator of how fast the Covid-19 virus is infecting people, has again gone over 1 for the first time since the decline of the second wave in the country. According to data from Michigan University’s Covid study group, India’s ‘R’ value has hit 1.01 as of July 30. According to experts, the ‘R’ value must stay below 1 for active cases to come down.

The Union Health Ministry has urged 10 states witnessing a surge in daily Coronavirus infections to impose stricter curbs in districts with Covid positivity rate above 10%. The ministry also asked states to take measures to check crowding of people and limit the spread of the virus. The 10 concerned states are Maharashtra, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram, Assam, Manipur, and Meghalaya. As many as 46 districts from these 10 critical states have a positivity rate of more than 10%. Kerala has the highest number of districts (14) with a positivity of over 10%. The state has been reporting almost half of India’s new cases for the past few days, followed by Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have made negative RT-PCR reports mandatory for people coming from Kerala. The Centre warned these states of any laxity as it could worsen the situation. Kerala and Uttar Pradesh were under lockdown during the weekend.

In the meanwhile, India achieved its July vaccination target. On Saturday, the last day of the month, a record 87.8 lakh doses were administered in the country, which helped India crossed 13.5 crore jabs in July. In the process, the total vaccination coverage of the country crossed the 47-crore mark, which is the highest in the world after China. According to data from the Union Health Ministry, more than 10.2 crore people are fully vaccinated now.

As vaccination picks up the pace and the Covid situation stays under control, several states have allowed schools to reopen for classes. Schools in Punjab to reopen for all classes; Rajasthan, Odisha have also allowed schools to open but with strict adherence to Covid protocols.

Financial Express Online brings you the latest updates on coronavirus.