The World Health Organisation on Sunday warned India to not let its guard down as the COVID-19 situation in the country is still “a bit of a concern” and a “challenge”,  news agency ANI has reported.

The international health body said that India must learn the lesson of never letting its guard down from the second wave of coronavirus that battered the country.

Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia told ANI that, “Lesson learned from this surge is at no cost can we let our guards down. We must take the COVID-19 vaccine at the first available opportunity. While we can’t predict the next surge but we can prevent it, which we must.”

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She went on to add that the sudden upsurge in COVID-19 cases has put an immense burden on the “already overwhelmed health services” of the country.

“We’re now witnessing a plateau & even a decline in cases in some parts of India. Situation continues to be of concern & challenge (sic),” she was quoted as saying by ANI.

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According to data issued on Sunday by the Union Health Ministry, India registered 165,553 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases to 27,894,800. In the last 24 hours, 3,460 patients have died, bringing the death tally to 325,972.

An intense second wave of coronavirus wreaked havoc upon the country. It resulted in the deaths of countless people and crippled India’s healthcare system.

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On January 16, India began a major vaccination campaign against coronavirus. At least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination has been given to 212,066,614 individuals so far, according to the health ministry data.