Need To Keep Close Vigil On China's Covid Situation, No Need To Panic In India: Govt Panel

NK Arora, chairman of Covid working group NTAGI, said the Covid situation was under control in the country.

Covid cases have continue to steadily decline in India and the mask mandate has been lifted ( Image Source :PTI )

A government panel said on Tuesday that there was a need to keep a close vigil on the Covid-19 situation in China, which is witnessing a wave of infections, even though there was no need to panic in India. NK Arora, chairman of Covid working group NTAGI, told ANI that the Covid situation was under control in the country as India was "extensively immunized with effective vaccines".

"We are hearing that there is widespread covid infection in China. As far as India is concerned, India is extensively immunized with effective vaccines, especially the adult population," ANI quoted Arora as saying.

Another reason Arora said that might be behind the low case burden in India was the fact that not many sub-variants of Omicron was circulating in the country.

"INSACOG data shows that almost all sub-variants of Omicron are found everywhere in the world. There are not many sub-variants which aren't circulating here. Important to keep close vigil on Chinese situation but no need to panic as situation is in control," he further said.

READ | China: Omicron Likely To Infect 60% Of Population In Next 3 Months, Estimates Epidemiologist

On Tuesday, India recorded just 112 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases declined to 3,490, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

Covid cases have continued to steadily decline in India in the past couple of months.

In the week ending Sunday (December 18), the country recorded just 12 deaths, the fewest since daily Covid fatalities started being reported in March 2020. The country recorded zero deaths on three of the days.

Also, cases detected in India during the week fell to 1,103 -- the lowest weekly number since March 23-29, 2020, when the first nationwide lockdown was imposed.

Chinese cities are witnessing an explosion of Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations, with concerns growing that the government may be hiding the true death toll of the virus.

The development comes as China dismantled its tough 'zero-Covid' controls, dropping testing requirements and easing quarantine rules that had battered the world's second largest economy and led to massive protests against President Xi Jinping.

Hospitals in Beijing are grappling with staff shortages and an influx of patients since the policy U-turn.

Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and health economist, estimated that more than 60 per cent of the Chinese population was likely to be infected over the next 90 days.