India on Wednesday recorded 37,593 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total infection tally to 3,25,12,366. The COVID-19 related death toll went up to 4,35,758 after India reported 648 deaths in the last 24 hours. 

According to government data, the active cases in India on Wednesday stood at 3,22,327. The active cases comprise 0.99% of the total infections.

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The health ministry said that the national recovery rate in India was recorded at 97.67%.

An increase of 2,776 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

Meanwhile, an expert committee, set up by an institute under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has predicted a third wave of Coronavirus infection may hit the country anytime between September and October and suggested significantly ramping up vaccination pace.

The report, which has been submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), noted that only around 7.6% (10.4 crores) population of India is fully vaccinated, and if the country moves at the current pace of insulation, India may witness over six lakh cases of COVID per day in the next wave.

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Meanwhile on Tuesday, WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said that India may be entering some kind of an endemic stage as people have learned to live with the virus to some extent.

For the unversed, an endemic stage is said to be one when a population learns to live with a virus. It’s very different from the epidemic stage when the virus overwhelms a population.

Swaminathan also talked about the exploitation of various drugs used for the treatment of COVID-19, especially in India. 

She said there is no evidence that HCQ or Ivermectin have any role to play in reducing mortality or morbidity in people infected with the virus.