A top government advisor on Wednesday said that a third COVID-19 wave was inevitable and that the country should prepare for it. “A phase three is inevitable, given the higher levels of circulating virus but it is not clear on what time scale this phase three will occur. We should prepare for new waves,” ANI quoted K Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor to Centre, as saying.

Raghavan also said that the long COVID wave that India was witnessing was unexpected. Twelve states, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and UP, have more than 1 lakh active COVID cases.

Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Bihar are among the states that show increasing trend in daily cases, it said From May 1, 6.71 lakh people in the age group of 18-44 years in nine states have been administered the vaccines, the government said.