A health worker prepares a dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine against the coronavirus disease. (Reuters photo)Coronavirus Case and Fatality Rate in India, Coronavirus Third Wave Live Updates, Covid August 18 Latest News: A day after a historic low daily caseload, India today saw a sharp 40 per cent increase in the last 24 hours. The daily health bulletin says that 35,178 new Covid-19 infections have been registered in the last 24 hours. A slight uptick in Covid fatalities has also been recorded. The government data says that 440 Indians lost their lives due to Covid-induced complications. The recovery rate remains high at 97.52 per cent. This is the highest India has seen since March of the last year.
The ICMR data shows that 17,97,559 tests were carried out on August 17. The day-on-day comparison shows that the testing has been increased now. This also proves that the low number of cases need to be seen from the prism of testing. If we are testing more and still getting a lesser number of positive cases, then only we can somewhat be more conclusive about the receding the transmissibility rate of the virus.
India has managed to achieve yet another landmark in terms of daily coronavirus vaccination. Though the Covid jabs are still below the dream of 1 crore doses a day, the significant uptick is surely worth the applause. But should India feel okay with all Covid tallies showing a downward trend? Not really.
First and foremost, we need to look at the nations that have managed to vaccinate more than half of their adult population and yet are facing a new Covid surge. Case in point – Israel and Ireland. While hospitalisations and very low thanks to the vaccine, the return of mask mandates and other curbs in Israel show that even a brisk pace of mass vaccination cannot completely alter the course of the virus.
On top of that, the constant and consistent mutation of the virus means that the existing vaccines may not be enough. The current doses that are being administered in India have shown good defence against the Delta variant, however, the fear of another variant that can escape the vaccine defence is very imminent.
So, if you are wondering what’s the way out, let’s circle back to the basics. Those who have got the Covid shot need to practice corona-appropriate behaviour, just like others.
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