News Analysis India

Tag: Coronavirus Outbreak

  • Angelique Coetzee, doctor who detected Omicron variant, says India will see surge but cases will be mild

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: India will see a surge in Omicron-driven Covid cases and a high positivity rate but the infection will hopefully be mild in most people as is being seen in South Africa, says Dr Angelique Coetzee who first identified the variant.

    The chairperson of the South African Medical Association also said existing vaccines will definitely control the contagion but those unvaccinated are at 100 per cent “risk”.

    “Existing vaccines will greatly help reduce the spread of the Omicron variant,” Coetzee told PTI in a phone interview from Pretoria.

    ALSO READ: COVID-19 cases in Delhi touch 180, positivity rate at six-month high

    In the case of a vaccinated person or one who has had a history of being infected by COVID-19, it will spread to fewer people, she said, adding that unvaccinated people will potentially spread the virus 100 per cent.

    “Existing vaccines would greatly help to reduce the spreading, as we know that you would spread only about 1/3 if vaccinated or had previous history of being infected by Covid, while unvaccinated people will potentially spread the virus 100 per cent,” she said.

    According to the South African expert, who first brought the Omicron variant to the world’s notice, the Covid pandemic is yet to be over and will become endemic in the days to come.

    She disagreed with the opinion of some experts that Covid is heading towards an end with the advent of Omicron, which as of now is comparatively a weaker variant of the coronavirus.

    ALSO READ: Delhi government orders Sarojini Nagar market to operate on odd-even basis on December 25-26

    “I do not think so. I believe it will be difficult (for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to end soon). I presume it will become endemic,” she predicted.

    “India will see a surge in Omicron-driven COVID-19 cases and simultaneously there will be a high-positivity rate. But hopefully the majority of the cases will be as mild as what we are seeing here in South Africa,” she added as India on Saturday reported 415 cases of the Omicron variant.

    Of these, 115 have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

    In Coetzee’s view, any virus which grows out of control will potentially be a threat to humans.

    Discussing the character of the Omicron strain of Covid that is spreading fast across the world and has dampened year-end festivities in many parts of the country, Coetzee said it attacks “warm bodies” and is also infecting children.

    ALSO READ: Seven-day home isolation for contacts of COVID-positive international arrivals in Karnataka

    “…for now Omicron is not threatening but it is fast spreading with a high infectivity rate, but less severe cases in hospitals. The virus’ sole purpose is to infect a warm body and to survive. And yes, children are also being infected by it, but they are recovering in an average of five-six days,” she said.

    Can the Omicron variant again mutate and change its character? “Yes, it might mutate in the future to be more deadly, or it might not,” she said.

    The 61-year-old medical practitioner also held that human behaviour such as wearing masks as well as following safety protocols for COVID-19 will play a huge role in controlling the transmission of Omicron.

    “You cannot rely on vaccines alone. Human behaviour unfortunately also plays a huge role and one also needs to be responsible and take ownership of what you do,” she stated.

    ALSO READ: Omicron scare could lead to panic hospitalisation – Expert

    “Vaccines, boosters, masks, good ventilation, stay away from crowds and common sense. Also know the symptoms and when to test, when to see a doctor and get treatment,” the renowned South African doctor said.

    In India, Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of 108 Omicron cases, followed by Delhi with 79, Gujarat 43, Telangana 38, Kerala 37, Tamil Nadu 34 and Karnataka 31.

    Several states and union territories have passed orders to ban gatherings on Christmas and New Year to restrict the spread of the virus.

    The health ministry has advised states and union territories to be vigilant and monitor case positivity, doubling rate and cluster of new cases, and consider imposing curbs and restrictions at the local level on Christmas and in the days heading to the New Year.

    According to South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), 74 per cent of all the virus genomes it had sequenced in November had been of the Omicron variant.

    The first instance was found in a sample taken on November 8 in Gauteng.

    Data indicated that between November 14 and December 4, hospitalisation across South Africa was comparatively lower than the period when the country was facing the peak linked to the Delta variant in July.

    ICU occupancy in South Africa has been only 6.3 per cent during this fortnight.

  • Amid Omicron threat, Goa CM Pramod Sawant asks tourism industry to follow all protocols

    By PTI

    PANAJI: In view of the growing threat of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in the country, Goa’s COVID-19 task force will hold a meeting on Friday to discuss guidelines for Christmas and New Year celebrations, state Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said.

    Talking to reporters late night on Thursday, he also appealed to the tourism industry to abide by all the coronavirus-related protocols, especially during the festive season.

    The tourism industry stakeholders should take all the precautionary measures to ensure that the virus does not spread in the state, he said.

    “Although no case of Omicron infection has been detected in Goa so far, all necessary steps need to be taken during the festive season. A few states have imposed night curfew in view of the virus variant. But we need to make sure that we don’t have to go undertake such measures,” Sawant said.

    The tourism industry should ensure adherence to COVID-19 norms, like social distancing and sanitisation, to prevent the spread of the virus.

    The state has been testing international passengers arriving at the airport, he said, adding, “Those who test positive are isolated and other passengers who arrive with them are also monitored.”

  • Amid rising Omicron fears, PM Narendra Modi calls for caution and stricter vigil

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the country amid fresh concerns sparked by the outbreak of highly transmissible Omicron variant and stressed on the need to be ‘satark’ (vigilant) and ‘saavdhan’ (cautious).

    While asserting that the government is alert and seized of the evolving scenario, he added that the fight against the pandemic is not over yet and highlighted the “paramount importance” of Covid-safe behaviour, a statement from the PMO said.

    He directed officials that the Centre’s teams be sent to states with low vaccination, rising cases, and insufficient health infrastructure, to assist them improve the situation.

    Places like New Delhi and Maharashtra have seen a rise in the number of new infections of late.

    ALSO READ: Karnataka asked to focus on COVID clusters amid Omicron scare

    After the presentation by officials, including the measures taken to deal with the new challenges, Modi directed them to maintain a high level of vigil and alertness at all levels.

    He asked them to work in close coordination with states to support their efforts of public health measures of containment and management under the ‘whole of government’ approach.

    “The strategy of the Centre for proactive, focussed, collaborative and cooperative fight against the pandemic should guide all our future actions,” Modi told the officials.

    In a tweet he said, “Reviewed the COVID-19 situation across India, particularly in the wake of Omicron. Our focus is on further ramping up health infra, testing, tracing and ensuring full vaccination coverage.”

    In the meeting, he directed the officials to ensure that the health systems in the states, beginning from the district level, are strengthened to meet any challenge posed by the new variant.

    ALSO READ: Avoid crowding in churches, say Maharashtra government as state sees upstick in COVID cases

    It is important for states to ensure that the oxygen supply equipment are installed and fully functional, Modi instructed the officials at the meeting, according to the statement.

    He also asked the officials to work with states on a regular basis and review the status of preparedness of various components of health infrastructure including training and capacity building of human resources, timely availability of ambulances, readiness of states to operationalise COVID facilities for institutional quarantining, and effective and supervised monitoring of those in home isolation.

    He further asked officials to make effective use of IT tools for tele-medicine and tele-consultation.

    Heightened and close monitoring of emerging clusters and hotspots through active, prompt and effective surveillance should continue, Modi stated at the meeting.

    Modi directed officials for sending a good number of positive samples for genome sequencing to INSACOG Labs in a prompt manner.

    ALSO READ: Ramping up oxygen storage, adding buffer stocks of medicines: Delhi gears up for possible third COVID wave

    He told officials to accelerate the testing to ensure quick identification of cases for timely containment and treatment.

    Focus should also be on effective contact tracing for curbing spread of the transmission, he said.

    He directed officials that the central government should send teams to states with low vaccination, rising cases and insufficient health infrastructure to assist them improve the situation.

    Modi was apprised of the progress in vaccination across the country and was briefed that more than 88 per cent of the eligible population is administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and more than 60 per cent of the eligible population has received the second dose, the PMO said.

    States need to ensure full vaccination of the eligible population, he said.

    In dealing with the infections, focus should be on prompt and effective contact tracing, ramping up of testing, accelerating vaccination and strengthening health infrastructure, he said.

    ALSO READ: Night curfew returns to MP amid rising COVID cases in neighbouring states, Omicron fears

    Officials briefed him that the door-to-door ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ vaccination campaign to mobilise and vaccinate people has been able to motivate people to take the COVID-19 vaccine, and has shown encouraging results in boosting vaccine coverage.

    Modi directed that states need to ensure that the eligible population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and to proceed to meet the target in a saturation mode.

    India has recorded 236 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus across 16 states and UTs so far out of which 104 people have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday Modi gave directions to officials during a high-level meeting to review the status of COVID-19 and Omicron, the new variant of concern (VOC), and said “we should be ‘satark’ (vigilant) and ‘saavdhan’ (cautious)”.

    The meeting was held to review the public health response measures for containment and management of COVID-19, strengthening of health infrastructure including availability of drugs, oxygen cylinders and concentrators, ventilators, PSA plants, ICU/oxygen supported beds, human resources, IT interventions and status of vaccination.

    Officials briefed the prime minister about the emerging scenario globally driven by the new variant, with an overview of the surge in cases in countries having high vaccination coverage and presence of the Omicron variant, it said.

    He was also apprised of the technical brief and priority actions recommended by the WHO in the context of Omicron.

    A snapshot of the status of COVID-19 and Omicron in the country, including states reporting a higher number of cases, districts reporting higher positivity, and higher number of clusters, was presented to the prime minister, the PMO said.

    The details of the Omicron cases reported in the country, including their travel history, vaccination status, and recovered status were also presented, it said.

    Modi was briefed on the various actions taken since November 25, when the first advisory of the Union Health Ministry was shared with the states.

    Revised travel advisory for international passengers, review meetings with states/union territories on COVID-19 public health response measures, ramping up vaccination, installation of oxygen supply equipment, etc., was also briefed to Modi The meeting was attended by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, NITI Aayog Member (Health), Home Secretary A K Bhalla, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, ICMR DG Balram Bhargava, Principal Scientific Advisor K Vijay Raghavan among with other senior officials.

  • Active COVID-19 cases in country lowest in 572 days

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: With 6,563 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,47,46,838, while the active cases declined to 82,267, the lowest in 572 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

    The death toll climbed to 4,77,554 with 132 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

    The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 53 days now.

    The active cases comprise 0.24 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.39 per cent, the highest since March 2020,the ministry said.

    A decline of 1,646 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

    India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

    It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

    India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

  • Omicron epicentre data gives reason for hope

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Even as India steps up surveillance and preparation in anticipation of a Covid surge, the latest news from the epicentre of the Omicron wave in South Africa could offer some comfort.

    The new analysis from the Gauteng province shows that its current Covid-19 wave may have peaked already, with the highest number of cases recorded on Friday.

    The fatality rate was less than 0.5%. The world’s first Omicron case was detected in the country less than three weeks ago. 

    ALSO READ: Kerala reports first Omicron COVID variant case, traveller from UK tests positive

    The analysis is a model from the University of Johannesburg, based on the hospital data from the South Africa’s National Institute of Communicable Disease, which was reported on Sunday.

    The data showed clear signs that Omicron infections are milder than the ones caused by Delta, which led to a devastating wave of Covid-19 in many countries this year.   

    Back home in India, where the Omicron tally now stands at 38, the Centre is continuing to pressure states on close surveillance, though there is no indication Omicron is triggering a surge in some districts.

    ALSO READ: Bengaluru doctor COVID negative, but has post-viral infection

    In a letter to 10 states on Saturday, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan suggested measures like night curfews in districts that are witnessing high Covid positivity rates in the past two weeks.

    Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said after a review of early data on Sunday that Omicron is more transmissible than Delta and reduces vaccine efficacy against infection and transmission.

    It also causes less severe symptoms. As of December 9, Omicron has spread to about 63 countries and could outpace Delta, the WHO said.

  • Goa: Four crew members of merchant navy ship arrived from South Africa test negative for Omicron

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Four crew members of a merchant navy ship, who had tested positive for coronavirus after they arrived in Goa from South Africa, have tested negative for the Omicron variant while another sample has been sent for re-testing to Pune in Maharashtra, Goa health department officials said on Saturday.

    The five crew members, including two from Russia, had arrived from Cape Town.

    They had tested positive for coronavirus earlier this month, following which their samples were sent for genomic sequencing to a laboratory in Pune as they had travelled from a high-risk country.

    “4 out of 5 initial samples sent for genomic sequencing are negative for #OmicronVariant. 1 sample has been put for retesting,” Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane tweeted on Saturday.

    Goa state epidemiologist Dr Utkarsh Betodkar said that one of the five samples had to be retested again due to some technical snag in the machine.

    “This does not mean that it has been sent for reconfirmation. On the other hand, since all the four samples are negative (for Omicron strain), it is more likely that the fifth one also will be negative,” he added.

    Goa has not reported any Omicron variant case so far.

  • COVID-19: Pune district achieves 100 per cent first dose vaccination target

    By PTI

    PUNE: Pune has become the second district in Maharashtra to achieve 100 per cent administration of the first dose of anti-coronavirus vaccines after Mumbai, officials said on Wednesday.

    As per the data shared by the district administration, the total population of Pune (district) is 1,13,53,633 and the targeted population (above 18) for the first dose was 83,42,700.

    However, the actual number of people who were given the doses was 83,44,544.

    The estimation about the percentage is based on the 2019 voters list, the authorities said.

    As far as the second dose is concerned, the district has achieved 65.7 per cent target as a total of 54,82,018 people have been administered both doses.

  • Goa: All passengers who arrived on flight from UK test negative for COVID-19

    By PTI

    PANAJI: The Goa government on Tuesday said that all the 245 passengers who arrived in the state from the UK during the day tested negative for coronavirus infection.

    State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane made the announcement on Twitter.

    As per Goa Airport, the 97th Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flight arrived with 245 passengers on board from London-Heathrow on Tuesday morning.

    So far, five patients including two Russians have been isolated in the state on suspicion that they might be carrying the Omicron variant infection.

    Their samples have been sent for genome sequencing and results are awaited.

  • Indian economy fastest in world to come out of COVID pandemic impact: Home Minister Amit Shah

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Indian economy is the fastest in the world to come out of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic because of policy decisions taken by the Modi government, Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday.

    Delivering the keynote address at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here, Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had envisioned that India would have great opportunities in the post-corona world.

    He visualised that economic slump would affect the globe but the policy decisions by the government ensured that the global economic slowdown did not touch the country, Shah said.

    “It is the result of policy decisions of the Modi government that the Indian economy is the fastest to come out of corona impact across the globe,” he said.

    On the new coronavirus variant Omicron, he said that the government is keeping a close watch on related developments.

    Shah said the fiscal deficit remained in discipline in spite of the fact that the government committed Rs 15 lakh crore to be invested in the next three years to improve health infrastructure, provided free ration to 80 crore people and free vaccination to 130 crore people.

    “I am sure that country will find its place in the global order and the dream of Prime Minister Modi to have a five trillion dollar economy will come true,” he said.

    The home minister said the country has seen governments of the Congress and the NDA at the Centre and in states and that of socialists and communists in states, now experts on the economy must give a comparison by data analysis as to which government performed better in ushering development.

    “I believe that it is the duty of economic pandits that they bring forth this comparison before people so that they can decide at the time of elections. The result may not be according to your beliefs but this much transparency should be there,” he said.

    After the BJP came into power in 2014, Shah said, 80 crore people were brought into mainstream by opening their bank accounts and providing other facilities.

    He said the Modi government has shown humane face of the GDP.

    Elaborating on the point, Shah asked economists wether the supply of drinking water and cooking gas to every household and building of 10 crore toilets in the country will increase the GDP or not.

    Such policies not only help in the growth of GDP but also solve the problems faced by the people, he said.

    Shah said with steps such as direct benefit transfer, poverty alleviation, rural electrification and other programmes, PM Modi ensured the participation of everyone in the country’s progress.

    He said when the coronavirus struck, the World was apprehensive how a large country like India with such diversity, poor health infrastructure will cope with it.

    “People who ridiculed lamp lighting, bell ringing, masks, are now silent because the corona war was fought by 130 crore people along with state and central governments unlike the rest of the world where only governments were tackling the pandemic.

    When history is written there will be no other leader in the world who managed to convince 130 crore people to remain indoors just by self-discipline,” he said.

    “After Lal Bahadur Shastri, I have not seen the country paying so much respect to the words of any leader as it did to Narendra Modi,” Shah said.

    In the second wave when the oxygen emergency came up there was chaos for six-seven days, but the prime minister successfully faced the challenge by patiently arranging all available resources from across the globe, optimal use of domestic resources and communicating with district levels, he said.

    “The production capacity of oxygen in the country was 1,500 MT per day but our requirement was 15,000 MT per day. Within 10 days production was increased to 10 times under Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.

    In order to boost economic activities after the pandemic, Modi made policy reforms to improve manufacturing in the country, increase investment for factories, and to change the investment climate.

    He said reforms were brought in the mining sector to encourage private investments, difference between captive and non-captive mines was abolished, mineral index development was started, stamp duty for mining lease was rationalized and commercial production in coal sector was cleared.

    “This opened a lot of investment opportunities in the coal and mining sector. Investment is coming, production has increased. When the world was facing a coal shortage and people were writing that the country may plunge into darkness but nothing of that sort happened because we increased coal production in time,” he said.

    He highlighted the changes in policies to give boost to the civil aviation sector, setting up of project development cells in every ministry, dynamic ranking system to spur healthy competition among states to attract investments, the schemes which have brought in Rs 2.25 lakh crore investment in the country.

  • Maharashtra’s acting chief secretary Debashish Chakrabarty takes 1st COVID-19 vaccine jab 10 months after launch of inoculation drive

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Over 10 months after the COVID-19 vaccination drive began in the country, Maharashtra’s acting chief secretary Debashish Chakrabarty has taken the first dose of the vaccine, a medical officer said on Saturday.

    The 59-year-old senior bureaucrat was administered the dose here on Thursday.

    The medical officer said that Chakrabarty defended the move of taking the jab months after the launch of the vaccination drive, saying that although he had no aversion to the vaccine, it was his personal decision and he could take the dose whenever he wanted.

    The IAS officer took the vaccine chiefly in view of the upcoming winter session of the state Assembly, which is scheduled to start from December 22, the medical officer added.

    Vaccination is mandatory to attend the winter session of the Assembly.

    A total of 11.72 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the state so far, while nearly 50 per cent of the eligible population has been covered with the first dose, it was stated.

    The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 this year.