India has crossed the COVID-19 peak and should be able to contain the spread of virus by the end of February 2021, a government-appointed panel of scientists and doctors said on Sunday, October 18.
However, the panel warned that laxity in following COVID-19 protocol can lead to a rise in infections. It added that the onset of winters combined with the upcoming festive season can lead to a spike in COVID-19 cases across the country.
The committee also underlined that 30 per cent of the population in India has developed immunity against the deadly infection.
Meanwhile, Niti Aayog Member V K Paul acknowledged that number of new coronavirus cases and deaths have declined in the last three weeks, but did not rule out the possibility of a second wave of infections in the winter season.
“In India, the new coronavirus cases and number of deaths have declined in the last three weeks and the pandemic has stabilised in most of the states. However, there are five states (Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal) and 3-4 Union Territories (UTs), where there is still a rising trend,” Paul said.
He further added that while India is in a somewhat better position now but the country still has a long way to go because 90 per cent of the people are still susceptible to coronavirus infections.
In similar stance, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said that community transmission of COVID-19 was occurring in districts "in a limited number of states" and that it is not a country-wide phenomenon.
India's COVID-19 caseload rose by 61,871 new infections on Sunday.
Recoveries surged to 65,97,209, taking the nationwide recovery rate to 88.03 percent. The COVID-19 toll rose to 1,14,031 with 1,033 new deaths reported in 24 hours, the health ministry said.
The number of active cases of coronavirus remained below 8 lakh for the second consecutive day. The total number of cases (74,94,551) includes 7,83,311 active cases, which comprise 10.45 percent of the total caseload, the ministry's data showed.
The COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.52 percent.
