India has reported 10,158 new cases in the last 24 hours and the active caseload stands at 44,998, according to information from the Union Health Ministry. This comes as India witnesses a surge in cases with Maharashtra and Delhi reporting over 1,000 daily cases the first time this year on Wednesday.
Delhi on Wednesday reported 1149 new Covid-19 cases while the positivity rate stood at 23.8 per cent. As per the data released by Delhi health department, one death was reported. On the other hand, Maharashtra on Wednesday evening reported 1,115 new Covid-19 cases.
Health officials on Wednesday said Covid-19 in India is moving towards the endemic stage and the infections may keep rising for the next 10-12 days after which they will subside, news agency PTI reported. According to the officials, even though the cases are rising, hospitalisation is low and is expected to remain low.
The current surge in infections is being driven by XBB.1.16, a sub variant of Omicron. While Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the dominant variant in India, most of them have little or no significant transmissibility, disease severity or immune escape, officials said.
Notably, the prevalence of XBB.1.16 increased from 21.6 per cent in February this year to 35.8 per cent in March. However, no evidence of an increase in hospitalisation or mortality has been reported, officials added.
As the country witnessed a surge in cases, mock drills were conducted across hospitals in Delhi to tackle the surge.
The mock drill conducted was part of a nationwide exercise to take stock of the hospitals' preparedness to tackle the surge in Covid cases. Officials had already announced that both public and private facilities are expected to participate in the exercise conducted on April 10 and 11.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya visited the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital in Delhi on Monday to review the measures taken to combat the disease. At Delhi government-run hospitals, the exercise was undertaken on Tuesday.