India remains top in reporting highest COVID cases in world

New Delhi: India recorded a fresh spurt in the COVID cases with over 4.12 lakh cases in the last 24 hours. The country also witnessed 3,980 deaths related to the COVID complications during the same period, taking the total fatalities to 2, 30,168.

States like Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand have recorded a sudden surge in daily cases and deaths suggesting that the "pandemic is moving eastwards", said the Union Health Ministry after a review meeting held on Wednesday.

Twelve states, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, have more than 1 lakh active COVID-19 cases, as per the government reports

Thirty districts saw a continued spike in the daily coronavirus cases for the last two weeks. Ten of these districts are in Kerala, seven in Andhra Pradesh, three in Karnataka and one in Tamil Nadu, it said.

Meanwhile, experts have cautioned India about the possibility of a third wave. "Phase 3 is inevitable given the high levels of circulating virus. But it is not clear on what timescale this phase 3 will occur. We should prepare for new waves," said K Vijay Raghavan, the government's principal scientific advisor, on Wednesday.

In a key development on Wednesday, the Joe Biden administration has said that it would support a global waiver plan on patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines moved by India within the World Trade Organization.

To date, the pandemic has taken away the lives of 3.2 million people, worldwide since it first emerged in late 2019.