Third Covid-19 wave warnings being treated like 'weather updates': Govt

Uttarakhand govt cancels Kanwar Yatra for 2nd year

The health ministry on Tuesday said the third wave prediction needs to be taken seriously and not treated as some casual weather update since its prevention lies in the hands of people. 

“It is not like we can go for a vacation before monsoons. This is a continuous fight between the virus and the human being. What we fail to understand is that adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour or lack of it is what will prevent or cause any future waves,” said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, health ministry. 

The government, while sharing visuals of crowding in market places and tourist hotspots in Delhi, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra, said a third wave may be caused by such behaviour.  Fifty-five districts in India are reporting more than 10 per cent positivity for the week ended July 13 while 73 are reporting over 100 cases. 

Nationally, the curve has declined to around 31,400 daily cases as of Tuesday morning, globally the pandemic seems far from over. From a peak of over 900,000 on April 29, the global case trajectory is seeing another upsurge to around 400,000 daily cases. “A third wave can be seen in the world...The wave is at 40 per cent of the last peak and we have to protect our country from the next wave,” said V K Paul, chairman of the Covid task force and member-health, NITI Aayog. 

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand government on Tuesday cancelled the Kanwar Yatra for the second year in a row, sources said.