India should brace for third coronavirus wave by Oct, say experts

India reported 60,753 fresh coronavirus infections on Saturday, taking the cumulative caseload to 29.8 million, according to central health ministry data. The country saw 1,647 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 385,137. The active caseload is at 760,019, while the total recoveries have surged to 28.6 million. As many as 272.3 million vaccine shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 3.3 million were given on Friday. Read more

AIIMS chief Randeep Guleria told NDTV that a third Covid-19 wave in India is "inevitable" and could hit the country in the next six to eight weeks. The remark came amid unlocking in parts of the country after weeks of strict restrictions. Guleria believes India's biggest challenge is to inoculate a large population, and the increase in vaccine dose interval for Covishield "may not be a bad" approach to cover more people. He stressed that the mutation of the virus needs to be closely studied as he talked about the new Delta-Plus variant, which has evolved from the Delta variant. Read more

The number of tickets issued for violation of Covid-mandated behaviour has risen to a two-month peak in recent days as the six-week-long lockdown in Delhi has eased, a report in The Indian Express said. As many as 5,301 people were issued tickets on Thursday for violations such as stepping out without masks, wearing masks improperly, spitting, and not maintaining social distancing.