Several states are gradually easing out curbs, witnessing a marginal drop in daily coronavirus cases which, the central government and public health experts believe may spike a fresh wave of infections.
Following national capital New Delhi lifting weekend lockdown, Tamil Nadu also decided to lift night curfews effective January 28. The state has also announced to do away with Sunday lockdown starting January 30. Interestingly, Tamil Nadu has also said that schools for classes 1 to 12 will reopen from February 1 onwards.
At least 2,51,209 new coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours. India’s Active Caseload is presently at 21,05,611. Active cases constitute 5.18 per cent of the country's total Positive Cases. considering the rise in cases, Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare on Friday interacted with State Health Ministers and Principal Secretaries/ Additional Chief Secretaries, and Administrators of eight southern States/UTs, such as Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep to review the Covid-19 situation in the country.
According to the union health ministry data, 141 Districts in India are reporting a Weekly Positivity between 5 to 10 per cent in the week ending January 26, 2022. Top 10 States in terms of active cases contribute to more than 77 per cent of the total active cases in the country.
Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla on Thursday issued an order under the Disaster Management Act stating that evidence based Covid-19 containment measures at district/local level will remain in force till end of February.
“Due to the current Covid wave, led by the new variant – Omicron, there has been a steady increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country and the active cases have increased to over 22 lakhs. Though a majority of active cases are recovering fast and a low percentage of cases are in hospitals, it is still a matter of concern that 407 districts in 34 states and UTs are reporting a positivity rate of more than 10 per cent,” Bhalla said in a separate letter to state secretaries. “Imposition and lifting of local curbs should be dynamic and should be based on case positivity and hospitalisation status at the local level,” he said.
Public health experts have expressed concerns that with the continuously rising Covid-19 cases the situation is still not under control. And easing of curbs may again increase the infection rate. “Lifting curbs will lead to increase in the number of infections in the short term. Curbs and restrictions will hamper the development of herd immunity in the society and in the long run restrictions, lockdown, etc. will not help us,” said Dr Ritwick Raj Bhuyan - Director, Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute. “So masking, vaccination and just avoiding large crowds will slowly eliminate or weaken the virus, as we have already witnessed that some of the European nations have lifted the curbs totally,” he added.
Meanwhile, India’s cumulative Covid-19 vaccination coverage in Friday exceeded 164.44 crores. Adult vaccination with first in India has reached of 95 and over 74 per cent of the all adults have received both the doses of Covid-19 vaccination according to the government.
"While the impact of lockdowns on the economy is an important consideration in easing curbs, we must simultaneously ensure that testing and vaccination continue to be given priority. Testing will enable timely identification of cases and appropriate isolation to control spread,” said Dr Hari Prasad Kovelamudi, President, Apollo Group – Hospitals.
“Vaccination will help in ensuring that the number of patients with severe illness is reduced dramatically. Also, all other precautions such as social distancing and sanitation should continue to be followed,” Prasad added.
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