Top 10 coronavirus updates: India on downswing of second wave, says Centre

Here are the updates from Thursday:

The Centre said India was on a downswing of the second wave of the coronavirus and added that there was a steady decline in the number of Covid-19 cases in the last 20 days even though the number of tests had been increased. Government officials added that they believe the downswing will be sustained even when restrictions are relaxed.India reported 2,11,298 new cases, taking the overall tally to 2,73,69,093 since the pandemic first broke out in January 2020. The toll rose by 3,847 to 3,15,235, while the active caseload stood at 24,19,907.
The Centre dismissed a report in The New York Times that claimed that India’s toll was probably around 42 lakh as “baseless and false”. The analysis by the newspaper also showed that the total coronavirus infections in the country could be around 70.07 crore.
The government said that a mix-up of coronavirus vaccine doses was unlikely to cause any significant adverse effects. The statement was in response to reports that 20 villagers in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharthnagar district were administered one dose of Covishield and a second dose of Covaxin during vaccinations against Covid-19.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine should be procured immediately. “We should procure this vaccine ASAP for our children,” Kejriwal tweeted, hours after the…

Read more