Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said on Thursday that India is currently seeing an average of 966 new COVID-19 cases each day, up from 108 cases per day in February. Bhushan’s press conference comes only hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended a high-level discussion yesterday on COVID, seasonal flu, and India’s public health readiness.
Providing an update on the current COVID-19 status in India, Bhushan added that the weekly positivity rate has risen from 0.09 percent in February to 1.08 percent now. He reported that there were 1650 cases in Maharashtra, 1093 cases in Gujarat, and 979 cases in Kerala. The positivity rate in Maharashtra is 4.49 percent. Bhushan also noted that the most recent COVID deaths were of co-morbid individuals.
In terms of global numbers, the health secretary noted that there are still over 94,000 new COVID-19 cases being detected every day. The US accounts for 19.2 percent of total global cases, while Russia accounts for 12.6 percent.
Omicron and other COVID-19 variants
He stressed that the SARS-CoV-2 virus mutates and evolves with time, with the Omicron form now having over 1,000 mutations. Bhushan stated that the majority of COVID variations given in India are Omicrons, which have no meaningful impact on the functional features of the virus-like greater transmissibility, illness severity, or immune evasion.
He went on to say that over 1,000 Pango lineages of Omicron have been found, with just a few recognized as sub-variants under monitoring or variants of concern due to transmissibility, disease severity, or immune evasion.
Vaccinations, testing, and public health preparedness
In terms of vaccination, Bhushan said that over 220.65 crore total doses have been administered in India, with more than 90 percent of individuals over 12 years of age receiving both doses and 27 percent taking a precautionary dose. Bhushan reported that around a lakh COVID-19 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours in India.
He advised elderly and co-morbid individuals to avoid crowded areas and engage in masking, and states were advised to focus on the 5-fold strategy of Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and COVID-appropriate behavior. In addition, he advised states to enhance lab surveillance, test all Severe Acute Respiratory Illnesses, and conduct mock drills in both government and private hospitals to check for COVID preparedness.