India, in the last 24 hours, recorded 41,806 new Covid-19 cases, a slight increase from Tuesday’s 38,792. The country also witnessed 581 Covid-related deaths on Wednesday. There are currently 4,32,041 active cases across India. Kerala continues to be the top contributor, reporting 15,637 new cases — the highest in more than a month.

The AY.1 and AY.2 sub-lineages of the highly contagious Delta variant of the novel coronavirus are unlikely to be more transmissible than Delta itself, said the consortium of government panels involved in genome sequencing of coronavirus. In a recent bulletin, the Indian Sars-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) said that the cases of Delta sub-lineages AY.1 and AY.2 are declining globally, with near-zero cases in the last week of June in the UK and the US where they were most frequently detected.

“It is likely that neither AY.1 nor AY.2 is more transmissible than Delta,” the INSACOG said, adding there is no indication of a rising trend in the four clusters of Ratnagiri and Jalgaon in Maharashtra, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

The Union Health Ministry Thursday raised with the states the issue of violations in Covid-19 norms in many parts of the country, especially hill stations, and stressed the need for focussed public health measures to contain the pandemic. In a letter to all states and UTs, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said complacency at this juncture has the potential to lead to another surge in coronavirus cases. “Violations of Covid norms have been observed in various parts of the country, especially in hill stations, public transport and markets. Needless to say, such complacency at this juncture has the potential to result in another surge in cases,” he said.

Source: The Indian Express