Covid-19 cases with variants of concern rose from 10.31 per cent of total infections in May to 51 per cent till June 20, top government officials told a parliamentary panel on Monday and stressed that both Covaxin and Covishield work against these strains albeit with slightly reduced potency.

The panel was informed that the economic impact of the second wave of viral infection was "asynchronous in its onset and wider in its spread particularly in rural hinterland", a source said.