News Analysis India

Tag: COVID case

  • For every Covid case detected in India, 30 unreported: Expert

    Express News Service
    BENGALURU: For every single Covid case reported in the country, 30 cases remained undetected or were missed, said Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, epidemiologist and India’s leading public policy, vaccines and health systems expert based out of Delhi, during an exclusive interview to The New Sunday Express.

    His findings are based on an analysis of the ICMR’s fourth sero-survey report. He has also prepared a list of states as per the number of cases they missed. “According to me, for every laboratory that has confirmed Covid cases across the country, the number of undetected cases range from 6 to 98. Uttar Pradesh has the highest of 98 unreported cases, while Karnataka has 16. It is the lowest for Kerala at six,” he said. But, he explained, it should not be misconstrued as states deliberately underreporting cases. 

    ‘Encourage states to report more cases’

    IT simply shows the states’ ability in managing the disease surveillance system, better contact tracing and better response to the pandemic. “It also shows that one has to be cautious in analysing the sero-prevalence data. We must encourage states to trace and report more number of cases so that quick action can be taken to mitigate the pandemic,” Dr Lahariya said.

    We must encourage states to report more number of cases so that quick action can be taken to mitigate the pandemic. – Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, Epidemiologist

  • Maharashtra & Kerala Covid situation worrisome: Modi

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday noted that high number of Covid-19 cases in Kerala and Maharashtra are worrisome. He mentioned in his interaction with chief ministers that similar trends were seen during January-February before the second wave. 

    “All of us are at a point where apprehensions of the third wave (of the pandemic) are continuously expressed. Despite experts giving positive signals due to the downward trends, increasing number of cases in a few states is still worrisome.

    During the last week, 80 per cent of the cases as well as 84 per cent of the fatalities came from these states,” remarked the Prime Minister in his closing remarks. He was interacting with chief ministers of  Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Maharashtra and Kerala. 

    Modi underlined the need for proactive measures in states where cases are rising to prevent the possibility of the third wave. He underlined the expert’s view that if cases keep on rising for a long time, chances of mutation of the virus will also increase and dangers of new variants will rise.

    He also expressed concern over the rise of cases in Europe, America, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand and other countries. “This should alert us and the world. Corona is not over,” said the Prime Minister, expressing concern over pictures coming post lockdown. He emphasised the need to follow protocol and avoid crowding, while exhorting political parties, social organizations, and NGOs to spread awareness.

    Home Minister Amit Shah mentioned during the meeting some of these six states have a very high test positivity rate as well. The chief ministers talked about steps taken to boost medical infrastructure. They gave suggestions to deal with possible rise of cases in future. They also discussed post-Covid issues faced by patients.

  • No COVID-19 death in Bengal for first time in nearly a year

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: No one died of the coronavirus in West Bengal in the last 24 hours — a first since March 22 last year, the state Health Department said on Monday.

    So far, 10,268 people have died of the virus in the state, it said.

    However, the state reported 198 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 5,75,316.

    The highest of 62 cases were recorded in Kolkata. The state’s discharge rate improved to 97.64 per cent as 212 more people recovered in the last 24 hours.

    So far, 5,61,755 people have recovered from the disease.

    Accordingly, the number of active cases declined to 3,293. The state has so far tested 85,79,292 samples for COVID-19, including 16,014 since Sunday.