A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged careless crowding at tourist spots and markets as a likely Covid third wave trigger, the Centre on Wednesday issued an advisory to state govts to ensure that people follow Covid protocols.
The Centre's advisory came as some states have witnessed an increase in the 'R' factor.
So what is 'R' factor?
The 'R' factor, or Reproduction rate of coronavirus, is a measure of how many people are being infected by one infected person.
An 'R' factor of 1 means one person will, on average, infect one other person. '
In a pandemic situation, the 'R' target is less than 1,
R factor of less than 1 will ensure that the virus will eventually stop spreading because it cannot infect enough people to sustain the outbreak.
'R' factor above 1.0 is an indicator of high spread of Covid-19.
On Wednesday morning the 'R' value was 0.95 - up from .89 a week ago and .74 four weeks ago.
At the peak of the second wave - when over four lakh new cases were reported daily - the 'R' value was 1.32 - the highest since April 2020.
Experts say that even a .1 change in 'R' factor can make a big difference in the spread of Covid-19