Big Question: COVID-19 third wave in India?

As Diwali is approaching, the central government has issued a fresh set of COVID-19 guidelines to the state governments. As per the latest update, India added 15,906 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total tally to 3,41,75,468, while the active cases declined to 1,72,594, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated. Even though India has crossed the 100 crore vaccination mark, the looming fear and danger of the coronavirus pandemic are still present, especially now since Covid-19 cases in several countries are resurging again. Cautioning about the festive season with just a few days left for Diwali, the experts said a downward Covid-19 graph is only part of the picture and pointed towards other factors including the mortality rate, larger vaccination coverage and worsening pandemic situation in countries like the United Kingdom (UK).The 561 new fatalities include 464 from Kerala and 33 from Maharashtra. A total of 4,54,269 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,39,998 from Maharashtra, 38,002 from Karnataka, 36,004 from Tamil Nadu, 28,229 from Kerala, 25,091 from Delhi, 22,899 from Uttar Pradesh and 19045 from West Bengal.