Covid-19 Wrap-up: Southern states continue to add to India's surge in cases

Although the overall Covid-19 situation in India appears to be under control, southern states in the country are apparently the ones that are still in the danger zone.

The southern states resulted in India’s Covid-19 surge in the week that ended on September 12, a trend seen since the first wave of the pandemic, however, the gap is far wider in this wave. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana, along with Puducherry registered 2.2 lakh new cases in the last week. Of this, over 1.7 lakh new cases came from Kerala alone, which continues to be the worst-impacted in the second wave.

On the vaccine front, Russia's Sputnik Light Covid-19 vaccine has received DCGI nod for conducting phase III bridging trials in India, raising hopes for more vaccines to be available in the future. India now has the highest vaccinations in the world. The number of people who have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in India and the number who have completed the vaccination schedule in the country are the highest in the world, the Union Health Ministry said.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru has witnessed a drop in vaccinations in the last few days, which is attributed to to both the festive season, as well as to the decline in vaccine supplies.The Karnataka government has set a target of administering two doses of vaccine to everyone above 18 years of age by the end of November.

The World Health Organization’s approval for the indigenous Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech, is likely to come this month.

In a relief to those children who lost their parents due to the pandemic, the Centre is planning to increase the monthly financial support from Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000.

Amid reports of the Centre thinking to vaccinate kids aged 12-17 years who have comorbidities like heart ailments, kidney disease, etc. an exhaustive list of comorbidities will be prepared and sent to various states.

The West Bengal government on Wednesday extended the Covid-related restrictions till September 30 with the existing relaxations, as per an official notification. The restrictions, first imposed on May 16 and extended at regular intervals, were set to expire on Wednesday.

In the wake of the devastating second wave, which killed hundreds of thousands of people, many in India are asking how Modi’s government missed the warning signs. Part of the answer, according to current and former government researchers and documents reviewed by The New York Times, is that senior officials forced scientists at elite institutions to downplay the threat to prioritise Modi’s political goals.

According to a new study, India produced the largest amount of social media misinformation on Covid-19 due to the country's higher internet penetration rate, increasing social media consumption and users' lack of internet literacy. Based on the results, the study said, it is presumed that the prevalence of Covid-19 misinformation can have a positive association with the pandemic situation.