Even as the second COVID-19 wave is receding in India, everyone must adhere to COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and get themselves vaccinated, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said on Friday.
"With our Collective will & efforts we shall end this #pandemic! Ensure everyone follows all #COVID19 appropriate behaviour everywhere, every time. Also get yourself vaccinated at the earliest," Harsh Vardhan tweeted.
Meanwhile, with 62,480 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 2,97,62,793, while the death toll climbed to 3,83,490 with 1,587 fresh fatalities, the lowest in 61 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
The active cases have fallen below 8 lakh after 73 days and the national COVID-19 recovery rate has crossed 96 per cent. The active cases have declined to 7,98,656 comprising 2.68 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 96.03 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.
On Friday, Dr. VK Paul, Member (Health), Niti Aayog said studies show that the chances of hospitalization reduce by 75-80% after vaccination. "Studies show that chances of hospitalization are 75-80% less in vaccinated individuals. The possibility of such individuals needing oxygen support is around 8% and the risk of ICU admission is only 6% in vaccinated persons," he said.
Besides, a group of medical experts surveyed by news agency Reuters has projected that the third wave of COVID-19 is likely to hit India by October. However, the third wave will be handled better than the second wave as cases will be less because more vaccinations would have been rolled out, said the experts.
(To receive our E-paper on whatsapp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
