New Delhi:The second wave of deadly Covid-19 infections, local lockdown measures are a cause of concern as they could disrupt supply chains, foreign investments and domestic credit market, said research agency India Ratings, adding that the vaccination drive could minimise the adverse impact of the second wave but it largely depends on the speed of vaccination.
India Ratings, a Fitch company, said India’s second round of COVID outbreak is moving in a direction different from the global trend as cases seem to have abated in major countries and the massive vaccination drive is expected to anchor any meaningful surge.
“Therefore, the counter trends coupled with spurt in daily cases would be the cause for concern in the near term. While the mortality rates have remained benign, the infection rate is increasing at a much faster rate than earlier,” said the agency.
New Covid infections hit a record high
Early this year, it seemed the country was able to keep the new Covid cases under check as the number of daily new cases was in the range of 9,000-12,000 in the first two weeks of February.
However, the new cases suddenly started rising from the middle of February and reached at an all time high of more than 1.26 lakh new cases yesterday (April 7).
Local lockdowns to disrupt supply chains
India Ratings said the renewed surge in cases has brought to fore the fear of localised lockdown that poses a moderate challenge to the supply chains of various sectors.