India is facing a spike in the daily new cases of COVID-19 since February, clearly indicating a second wave, said a report by the State Bank of India (SBI).
According to the research report, the second wave might last up to 100 days. It said localised lockdowns have been "ineffective" and the only way to win the war against COVID is by increasing the speed of vaccination.
"Considering the number of days from the current level of daily new cases to the peak level during the first wave, India might reach the peak in the second half of April," it said.
India recorded over one lakh coronavirus infections in just two days with 53,476 new cases in a span of 24 hours, the highest single day rise so far this year, pushing the nationwide COVID-19 tally of cases to 1,17,87,534, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
The active caseload registered an increase for the 15th day in a row and was recorded at 3,95,192 comprising 3.35 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 95.28 per cent, the data stated.
"Though the global COVID-19 experience shows the second wave to be much higher in intensity than the first wave, the presence of the vaccine makes the difference currently. Thus India will be able to manage the situation better," the 28-page report said.
"The lockdown has been ineffective and mass vaccination is the only hope. This is visible in the case of many states including Maharashtra and Punjab," it said.