With Several States Unlocking, How Worrying is Delta Plus Variant?

Episode 727 of the The Big Story podcast, hosted by The Quint, titled "With Several States Unlocking, How Worrying is Delta Plus Variant?" was published on June 23, 2021 and runs 14 minutes.

June 23, 2021 ·14m · The Big Story

Summary

Several states have eased lockdown restrictions and have started opening up as the second wave of COVID-19 seems to ebbing across the country, with less than 50,000 cases being registered on 22 June. However, the near re-opening of the economy also led to COVID norms like social distancing, wearing masks being blatantly defied by the public, especially in the national capital. Photos of crowded markets and malls have been doing the rounds on social media. In Uttar Pradesh, thousands of devotees reported even gathered to take dip in Ganga, flouting all norms. Meanwhile, a new mutation of the deadly Delta variant has also emerged, called the “Delta Plus”. The health ministry on 22 June tagged it as a “variant of concern.” as 40 cases have been country with this mutant variant. Given that the second wave was born out of a lackadaisical attitude from the government and citizens and the fact that majority of Indians are still not vaccinated, are we unlocking too much too soon? Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram Guest: Dr Shahid Jameel, virologist and the Director of Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University, and Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, a public system expert. Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode Description