Second wave not yet over, Delta plus may not be dangerous: NTAGI chief
Darpan News Desk IANS, 15 Jul, 2021 10:51 AM
New Delhi, July 15 (IANS) India is still witnessing the second wave which is not yet over as northeastern states and some parts of south India are still battling it, a member of the government's Covid expert panel said on Thursday.
Talking to IANS, Covid-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) Chairman N.K. Arora said: "Second wave is not yet over..."
He also contended that the Delta Plus variant is "not going to be that disturbing or harmful" while the Delta variant infection is still in some parts of the country.
Some experts suggest that there may be possible third wave at the end of August but it may not be as devastating as the second wave was during April to June.
Experts also stress that adherence to Covid protocols is mandatory to curb the infection and vaccination is an important tool to fight the pandemic.
The Indian Council of Medical Research's Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Division head Samiran Panda has said that the vaccines available now largely are effective against the new variants, but the efficacy may differ for different strains.
Vaccines are not infection-preventing, but disease-modifying, he added.
The Human Resource Development Ministry yesterday had directed the UGC to issue an advisory to all the universities to ensure that the security of Kashmiri students is not compromised.
AAP’s Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann on Friday demanded that the passports of former CM Parkash Singh Badal, former deputy CM Sukhbir Badal and former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini be confiscated.
The war of words between the Congress and the BJP over the Pulwama terror attack escalated on Friday with Rahul Gandhi calling Narendra Modi “prime time minister” for allegedly continuing with a photoshoot when the nation was grappling with pain, while the BJP slammed the Opposition party for “indulging in petty politics”.
Former Punjab SP Salwinder Singh, who was pronounced guilty in a rape case on February 15, was sentenced to 10-year jail by Additional District and Sessions Judge Prem Kumar here today.
Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar on Friday said he would “hate” to see India concede two points to Pakistan by not playing them in the upcoming World Cup as such a move would only help the arch-rivals in the mega-event.
More than three years after police firing at Behbal Kalan village left two persons dead, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has virtually indicated that the police action was not unjustified.
