COVID second wave: AIIMS chief lists out 2 main reasons for spike in coronavirus cases

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director Dr Randeep Guleria pointed that there are two key reasons for the staggering number of new COVID-19 cases in India.

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New Delhi: As the second wave of the novel coronavirus hits India, a staggering number of new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the past few days. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director Dr Randeep Guleria pointed that there are two key reasons for this spike in infections.

Guleria termed the cause of COVID-19 spread as "multifactorial". "The two main causes are-when in Jan/Feb vaccination started and cases went down people stopped following COVID appropriate behaviour and at this time the virus mutated and it spread more rapidly," the AIIMS chief told ANI. 

Further, he pointed that a lot of religious activities were happening in the country and also voting was held for four states and one Union Territory in the period.

"We must understand lives are also important. We can do this in a restricted manner so that religious sentiment is not hurt and COVID appropriate behaviour can be followed," he emphasised.

Meanwhile, the total vaccinations across the country crossed the 12 crore mark today with over 26 Lakh doses given in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said in a press release on Sunday.

Guleria informed that vaccines are helpful but will not prevent the infection if the COVID-appropriate behaviour is not followed. "We have to remember that no vaccine is 100% efficient. You may get the infection but the antibodies in our body will not allow the virus to multiply and you'll not have the severe disease," he said. 

The AIIMS chief's remarks on COVID-19 vaccine is similar to other experts' views. 

While on Sunday India reported a record 2,61,500 new COVID-19 cases pushing the caseload in the country to 1,47,88,109. With 1,501 COVID-19 fatalities the death toll has now reached 1,77,150, as per Ministry of Health data.