Covid-19 Wrap-up: Chaos & fear of third wave looms as states 'unlock'

Karnataka, which recently announced relaxations across 23 districts, witnessed chaos in the bus stands as the state resumed public transport

With the number of new Covid-19 cases on the decline in most of the states, the nation is currently heaving a little sigh of relief. However, the fear of a possible third wave hitting the country still lurks in everyone's minds. Nonetheless, economic and public activities have started on a limited scale in many of the states.

Karnataka, which recently announced relaxations in Covid curbs across 23 districts, witnessed chaos in bus stands as the state resumed public transport with limited occupancy. Though resumption of bus operations comes as a relief to office goers and others who depend on them for commuting, them plying in lesser numbers and with 50 per cent capacity is causing chaos at bus stands in several places in Bengaluru, with a high number of people wanting to avail services.

While the nation is working hard to vaccinate all its citizens and prepare to fight a possible third Covid-19 wave, another health hazard in the form of mycormycosis, also called 'black fungus', is gradually rising up as a big challenge. In three weeks, the number of cases of the disease shot up to more than 30,000 from negligible levels. States have recorded more than 2,100 deaths, according to news reports.

Continuing the welcome decline in new Covid cases, India recorded 53,256 new cases, taking the total tally to 2,99,35,221. This is the lowest number of new cases recorded in 88 days, while the active cases dipped further to 7,02,887.

As announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 7, the Centre started centralised vaccination drive from Monday, whereby, relieving the states of the financial burden of procuring the jabs. Under this new system, all the citizens of the country will receive free jabs at any government vaccination centre Monday onwards.

In a move that is likely to please a lot of students, the CBSE on Monday told the Supreme Court that the board would offer optional exams for class 12 students, who are not satisfied with the assessment criteria. The optional exams would be conducted between August 15 and September 15, subject to a conducive environment amid the pandemic.

With multiple Covid-19 vaccines being available now, several parts of the globe are now witnessing 'brand tribalism' as which brand of vaccine one can get or should get has become a topic of debate.

The Supreme Court of India on Monday sought details of compensation paid to kin of Covid-19 victims. The apex court asked the Centre to submit details of the funds being used for the purpose and reserved its verdict on payment of Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia to Covid victims' families.

The Karnataka government is set to start a special vaccination drive from June 22 for students and employees who need to travel abroad for education, work purpose or sports events like the Tokyo Olympics. The vaccination drive will be held at the Bengaluru City University.

Reacting to the Japanese government's decision to impose strict rules on athletes for the Tokyo Games from certain nations, including India, the country's Olympic body slammed the "unfair" norms saying these would adversely affect the athletes' preparation. The protocols will involve daily testing of athletes for a week before they depart for Japan and for them to "refrain from coming into contact with other teams for three days after they arrive" in Japan.

A new study by Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC) found that the Delta variant of the Covid-19 has the ability to evade human body's immune system, leading to “higher transmissibility, pathogenicity and virulence”.