Second wave not yet over, Delta plus may not be dangerous: NTAGI chief
Darpan News Desk IANS, 15 Jul, 2021 10:51 AM
New Delhi, July 15 (IANS) India is still witnessing the second wave which is not yet over as northeastern states and some parts of south India are still battling it, a member of the government's Covid expert panel said on Thursday.
Talking to IANS, Covid-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) Chairman N.K. Arora said: "Second wave is not yet over..."
He also contended that the Delta Plus variant is "not going to be that disturbing or harmful" while the Delta variant infection is still in some parts of the country.
Some experts suggest that there may be possible third wave at the end of August but it may not be as devastating as the second wave was during April to June.
Experts also stress that adherence to Covid protocols is mandatory to curb the infection and vaccination is an important tool to fight the pandemic.
The Indian Council of Medical Research's Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Division head Samiran Panda has said that the vaccines available now largely are effective against the new variants, but the efficacy may differ for different strains.
Vaccines are not infection-preventing, but disease-modifying, he added.
India and Australia penned a landmark agreement for reciprocal access to military bases for logistics support besides firming up six more pacts to further broaden ties after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart PM Scott Morrison held an online summit.
Siddharta Vashishtha, also known as Manu Sharma, the convict in the Jessica Lal murder case was released from Tihar Jail on Tuesday. Sandeep Goel, Director-General of Tihar Jail, said: “He was released on the recommendations of the Sentence Reviewing Board meeting. The entire process has been carried out.”
A swarm of locusts on Wednesday and Thursday devastated crops in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadhra district, which shares borders with Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. The pest has damaged crops in six states, leading to the Centre issuing a locust warning to 16 states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Rs 1,500 crore for the relief and rehabilitation of people affected by Cyclone Amphan in West Bengal and Odisha, and assured the states of more support after conducting separate aerial surveys with chief ministers Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik on Friday.
US President Donald Trump tweeted that the US would donate ventilators to India in the fight against COVID-19. "We stand with India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during this pandemic,".
Fugitive liquor lord Vijay Mallya Thursday lost his application to appeal against extradition proceedings in the England Supreme Court, setting off the 28-day “mandatory period” for the 64-year-old businessman to be extradited to India on charges of fraud and money laundering related to unrecovered loans to his now non existent Kingfisher Airlines.
