Centre warns gross violations of COVID rules could jeopardise gains made so far

New Delhi: The Central government on Tuesday expressed concern over the "gross violations" of COVID-appropriate behaviour reported in several parts of the country and warned that it can nullify the gains made so far and may cause the third wave.

Addressing the media briefing of the Health Ministry, joint secretary in the ministry Luv Agarwal shared pictures of crowded markets and tourist places like Sukhna lake in Chandigarh and Bhushi dam in Maharashtra.

He said, "Continued gross violations of Covid appropriate behaviour can nullify the gains so far. The third wave may be caused because of this behaviour."

He stated that people talk about the third wave as a "weather update" but fail to understand that adherence to COVID-appropriate behaviour or the lack of it is what will prevent or cause any future waves.

He asked, "The choice is not that difficult to make, is it?"

Agarwal said approximately 73.4 per cent of the new COVID-19 cases reported so far in July were from Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

"Daily new cases in the country continue to show a decline during the second wave. Average daily new cases declined from 3,87,029 cases between May 5 and May 11 to 40,841 cases between July 7 to July 13," Agarwal said.

Agarwal emphasized that concerted efforts have been made to manage the evolving situation in the country.

"Rs 23,123 crore approved as India Covid-19 emergency package to be used for ICU beds, creating paediatric units, adding hospitals beds, installing liquid medical oxygen storage tanks, and adding additional ambulances to fight against Covid," Agarwal said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his interaction with the Chief Ministers of the North-Eastern states on Tuesday cautioned against crowding at hill stations and emphasized prioritising the practice of COVID appropriate behaviour, vaccine administration and continuing the strategy of testing for prevention and treatment.

During the virtual meeting, the Prime Minister, said, "We need to understand that the third wave will not come on its own. Experts are repeatedly warning against carelessness and crowding as they can lead to a massive surge in cases. The main question in our mind should be how to prevent the third wave."

India's COVID-19 death toll climbed to 4,10,784 on Tuesday with 2,020 new deaths recorded after Madhya Pradesh reconciled its fatality data while 31,443 new coronavirus cases pushed the infection tally to 3,09,05,819, according to Union health ministry data.