India showing 25% rise in Covid-19 cases, 53% rise in deaths in last 1 week, warns WHO

India has reported a 25 per cent rise in fresh Covid-19 cases and a 53 per cent rise in coronavirus related deaths in last one week, showed the epidemiological update on COVID-19 issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The apex global public health agency noted that in the South East Asia region, the highest numbers of new cases were reported from India i.e. 93,281 new cases averaging to 6.8 new cases per 100,000, which is a 25 per cent rise. In the region, the highest number of new deaths were also reported from India i.e., 144 new deaths with a 53 per cent rise in comparison to the previous week, the WHO said.

The WHO said, the number of weekly cases has increased for the third consecutive week globally as well, after a declining trend since the last peak in March 2022. During the week of 20 to 26 June 2022, over 4.1 million new cases were reported, an 18 per cent increase as compared to the previous week, the WHO said.

Earlier this week, a perturbed Indian central government advised caution and continuous alertness to states reporting a surge in Covid-19 cases during the past few weeks. Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary reviewed the status of the Covid situation with 14 such states that are reporting high number of cases on a week-to-week basis along with increased case positivity combined with low numbers of Covid-19 tests and below average vaccination.

Public health experts have cautioned that the rise in global and domestic Covid-19 cases is a warning sign.

“The numbers are increasing at a rapid pace though still alarm bells need not be raised. However, what is important is to increase the pace of genomics for variant identification. Early results from UK indicate that a new Omicron variant is possibly now impacting the lungs, which may result in it becoming as deadly as Alpha and Delta variants. Given this, we need to be more vigilant and up the guard in coming weeks,” said Himanshu Sikka, Lead - Health, Nutrition and WASH from IPE Global, an international development consulting firm.

The central government has also said that there is a low level of Covid-19 testing across the states, and drop in RT-PCR share. Instead of a thin and wide testing spectrum, states have been advised to focus on strategic testing of patients coming to fever clinics, severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) and influenza-like illness (ILI) patients, along with new clusters and geographies in all districts reporting higher positivity.

Doctors claim that the majority of the patients are not testing owing to mild symptoms of the current circulating Covid-19 strains.

“There could be lot more cases under the blanket where the people are not able to identify symptoms and promptly testing. People also have lot of awareness over last couple of years pertaining to coronavirus. Home testing has also dominated over RT-PCR testing which leads to non-notification of Covid-19 cases,” said Dr Sai Reddy, Consultant Pulmonologist, Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad, adding that it is necessary to identify hotspots and do mass testing and follow strict Covid-19 isolation protocols.

The union health ministry has noted that the uptake in second and precaution doses in many states reporting the present surge is low. The centre has advised to rapidly accelerate the vaccination coverage, especially of the 60+ elderly population, and second dose among 12-17 population group.

“It is necessary to identify immune-compromised and unvaccinated population and push them for vaccination. It is necessary to identify active cases and do mass testing in population so that we can identify active cases and prevent further surge,” said Reddy, adding that there is a high possibility of re-infection due to waning immunity from prior infection and their vaccination status.

At least 17,070 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours in India. India’s Active Caseload currently stands at 1,07,189. Active cases now constitute 0.25 per cent of the country's total Positive Cases. Weekly Positivity Rate in the country currently stands at 3.59 per cent and the Daily Positivity rate is reported to be 3.40 per cent, the union health ministry data showed.
 

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