Coronavirus: Maharashtra sees 6,479 new Covid cases, over 20k in Kerala

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) director general Dr Shekhar C Mande said the next wave of Covid-19 is definitely happening, but refused to make a guess as to how and when it will strike. Speaking to reporters here on Saturday, the CSIR chief said vaccination and wearing a mask will certainly help in reducing the intensity of the third wave. Dr Mande said that they were analysing the data of surge in positive cases in Kerala. He also said the Delta plus variant of the virus was not of great concern.

The Karnataka government on Saturday made it mandatory for people travelling from Maharashtra and Kerala to produce a negative RT-PCR test report irrespective of their vaccination status. The move, part of measures to increase pandemicrelated surveillance at entry points, follows reports of a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in the neighbouring states. “It does not matter if a person travelling from these two states has taken the first vaccine dose or both jabs. The person is supposed to carry a Covid negative report, not older than 72 hours, to enter Karnataka,” said a senior official of the health department.

India reported 41,831 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, according to government data on Sunday. The nationwide tally of infections has reached to 3,16,55,824, while the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 47 crore, according to Union halth ministry data.