New Delhi: The Union government on Thursday cautioned that Coronavirus cases in India are increasing, not shrinking, as India’s R naught value, which indicates the spread of COVID-19, is 1.22.
“India’s R naught value, which indicates the spread of COVID-19, is 1.22 so cases are increasing, not shrinking,” the government said, as reported by news agency PTI.
According to the Union Health Ministry’s briefing on Thursday, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka, and Gujarat are emerging as states and UTs of concern on the basis of weekly COVID-19 cases and positivity rate.
Luv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary at Union Health Ministry, informed that analysis of active cases shows Kerala and Maharashtra have more than 10,000 active cases. In three states, the number of active cases is between 5,000-10,000. In 31 states, the number of active cases is less than 5,000.
India’s active caseload currently stands at 82,402. The Health Ministry mentioned that more than 8,000 average daily new cases were recorded in the last one week while more than 10,000 daily cases were reported after 33 days.
The government stressed that there is a need for a heightened vigil in view of the sharp increase in infections, PTI reported.
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Omicron Cases
Citing the World Health Organization, Joint Secretary Luv Aggarwal said that Omicron Variant has a growth advantage over the Delta variant with a doubling time of 2-3 days.
“Early data from the UK, South Africa, and Denmark suggests there is a reduced risk of hospitalisation for the Omicron compared to the Delta variant,” he added.
He also highlighted that more than 3 lakh Omicron cases (3,30,379 cases) and 59 deaths have been reported in 121 countries in just one month. South Africa, UK, USA, and France are the countries with high presence of the mutation.
In India, 22 states and UTs have so far reported 961 Omicron cases and 320 patients have recovered.
Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Kerala are the top states where Omicron cases have been reported.
Meanwhile, when asked about violation of COVID norms in political rallies amid rising infections, NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr. VK Paul responded saying: “It is in the domain of the Election Commission and it is not the right forum to take up this issue”.
Masking & Treatment
The government has once again stressed that masking before and after vaccination is a must and mass gatherings should be avoided.
Earlier and currently circulating strains of Coronavirus spread through the same routes, ICMR DG Dr. Balram Bhargava stated, as reported by PTI. He mentioned that treatment guidelines for the infection remain the same.
It was also stated that the whole virus infects an individual in natural settings and it elicits cell-mediated immunity and immunological memory.
“The durability of immunity post-vaccination persists for ≥ 9 months,” Dr. Balram Bhargava said.
(With Inputs From Agencies)