With just about 2,500 fresh cases reported on Friday, it can safely be said that India is past the Omicron-driven third wave. With experts crediting the country’s robust vaccination drive and timely Covid-19 measures behind preventing a catastrophic turn of events as witnessed in the second wave, there might be another wave on the horizon as various regions of the world see a spike in infections.
To warn states against such a spread amid the festive season, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote a letter to all additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries, and secretaries of (Health) of all States and UTs, emphasizing that there should be a continued focus on the five-fold strategy: Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and adherence to Covid-appropriate behavior.
Testing for influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) cases have been the pillars of Covid management for the government. However, the testings were stopped recently as India has been recording a steady decline in Covid cases. As part of intensified surveillance, patients being hospitalised with ILI and SARI will again be tested for Covid and positive samples will be sent for genome sequencing.
“Effective surveillance by monitoring of emerging clusters of new cases, if any, testing as per norms and monitoring of ILI and SARI cases shall be taken up on a continued basis to ensure no early warning signals are missed and spread of infection can be controlled,” Bhushan said in the letter.
Meanwhile, figures showing a global increase in Covid-19 cases may foreshadow a much larger problem, as some countries report a drop in testing rates, the WHO warned recently, urging nations to remain vigilant against the virus. After more than a month of decline, Covid-19 cases began to rise around the world last week, according to the WHO, with lockdowns in Asia and China’s Jilin province battling an outbreak.
But despite several countries around the world experiencing a new Covid wave, India recorded fewer than 3,000 infections for the fifth day in a row. According to the most recent government data, the active caseload is 29,181, or.07 percent of the total cases logged (over 4.3 crore infections). In the last 24 hours, 149 new deaths have been reported, bringing the total death toll to 5,16,281. The mortality rate is 1.20 percent.
What’s Causing the Outbreak?
According to the WHO, the outbreaks were caused by a combination of factors, including the highly transmissible Omicron variant and its BA.2 sublineage, as well as the lifting of public health and social measures.
“This increase is occurring despite reductions in testing in some countries, which means the cases we’re seeing are just the tip of the iceberg,” WHO’s head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.
Case Rise in Europe
Between March 7 and 13, the number of cases in Europe increased by 2%. However, unlike China, most European countries have populations with high natural immunity as well as adequate vaccination coverage with effective shots. However, the number of weekly cases in Finland and the United Kingdom, for example, has increased by 100% and 60%, respectively.
The spread of the omicron variant’s BA.2 sub-lineage appears to be the driving force, reported the Wire.
However, it is not known whether BA.2 strain is more dangerous than the BA.1 strain (the ‘original’ omicron variant). It is known that BA.2 is more contagious, but the WHO claims that the difference is minor.
Hong Kong Spike
Hong Kong health authorities reported 29,272 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, up from 27,765 on Tuesday and 217 deaths, compared with 228 in the previous 24 hours.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Thursday she would review COVID restrictions in coming days, as she understands people in the global financial centre are growing increasingly impatient with rules that have isolated the city and hurt business.
Restrictions, including a ban on flights from nine countries such as Britain and the United States, quarantine of up to 14 days for people arriving in Hong Kong, a ban on face-to-face classes and the closings of gyms and most public venues have frustrated many residents in the city of 7.4 million.
Speaking at a regular COVID-19 media briefing, Lam said she would provide an update around March 20-21 rather than wait for the restrictions to expire on April 20.
Hong Kong is clinging to a “zero-COVD” strategy that aims to curb all outbreaks despite spiralling cases that have swept through care homes and overwhelmed medical and mortuary facilities.
The policy mirrors that of mainland China, which is also facing a huge challenge as a jump in cases restricts the movement of millions of people and affects some of the country’s industrial hubs.
The situation has triggered an exodus of people from the city, with a net outflow of more than 45,000 this month after at least 71,000 left in February. That compares with a net outflow of nearly 17,000 in December before the fifth wave hit.
Infections Up in US
More than a third of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wastewater network that monitors for Covid-19 sample sites across the United States showed rising Covid-19 trends from March 1 to March 10, at nearly twice the rate seen in February. While people in many parts of the country have begun to return to work after mask rules were relaxed, authorities are once again on high alert due to the new risk of transmission.
With inputs from AP, PTI
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