Top Covid-19 Updates: Too soon to end Covid curbs? US sees resurgence of new infections as BA.2 variant becomes dominant

Coronavirus March 24 Latest News: Coronavirus is resurging in parts of northeastern United States as its variant BA.2 has become dominant in the country, an AFP report quoted officials as saying. US is currently registering an average of 28,600 Covid cases per day. As per the report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Rochelle Walensky told reporters there were early signs of a new wave.

White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci had a few days back warned that BA.2 could soon lead to another uptick in coronavirus cases in the US. In fact, as state authorities are slowly removing Covid curbs and scaling down the pandemic allowing free movement, a US-based epidemiologist has lashed out at making it look like the pandemic is coming to an end. Dr Eric Feigl-Ding has warned the world that it is at the brink of yet another wave.

Here are some latest top updates on Covid situation in India and around the world:

– India on Thursday reported 1,938 new Covid-19 infections and 67 fatalities, as per the data shared by the Union Health Ministry. India’s total tally of cases rose to 4,30,14,687, while the active cases further declined to 22,427.

– The Ministry has said that the active cases comprise 0.05 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.75 per cent.

– According to the official data, the daily positivity rate has been recorded at 0.29 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 0.35 per cent. The cumulative vaccine doses administered so far has exceeded 182.23 crore.

– A total of 5,16,672 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,43,769 from Maharashtra, 67,476 from Kerala, 40,042 from Karnataka, 38,025 from Tamil Nadu, 26,148 from Delhi, 23,492 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,197 from West Bengal.

– On an international level, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday said that more Covid-19 curbs in the country were being eased, which included allowing fully vaccinated travellers to enter Singapore without needing to quarantine. The requirement to wear mask outdoors was also being dropped.

– New York Mayor Eric Adams will be lifting the city mandate requiring performers and professional atheletes to get COVID-19 vaccine, likely some time this week, after the rule has been increasingly criticised by local sports teams.

– China on Wednesday recorded 2,054 confirmed cases of coronavirus, a significant reduction from 2,667 a day earlier. However, new asymptomatic cases, which are compiled separately, increased from 2,469 on Tuesday to 2,829 on Wednesday.