Second wave on decline: Govt

NEW DELHI, May 27:
A steady decline in new COVID-19 cases has been recorded in India for the last 20 days, with 24 States witnessing a dip in active cases since the last week, the Union Health Ministry said today.
It also noted that the country is on a downswing of the second wave of COVID-19.
“We are on a downswing of the second wave of COVID-19 and believe that it will be sustained even when restrictions are significantly relaxed,” the Ministry said.
“A steady decline in new COVID-19 cases has been recorded in India for the last 20 days. Twenty-four States have also reported decline in active COVID-19 cases since the last week,” it said.
The Ministry also said that while COVID-19 testing has increased manifold, a steady decline in weekly COVID-19 positivity rate has been seen since the last three weeks.
On possible adverse effects of taking the second dose of a different Covid vaccine, it said, “If second dose of a different Covid vaccine is taken, any significant adverse effect is unlikely, but we need more scrutiny and understanding in this regard.”
The Centre also termed a recent report by the New York Times (NYT) on the estimated COVID-19 death toll in India as “completely baseless and false”.
“The NYT report is not backed by any evidence and based on distorted estimates,” it added. (PTI)