Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 24: As many states starting to re-impose restrictions with night curfew returning to Haryana, Gujarat and some other states after Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra limiting gathering, the union health ministry on Friday cautioned people against dropping guards pointing out that almost the entire world was witnessing a fourth surge in Coronavirus cases.
In view of the coming festivities, particularly the year-end of the new year, the government urged the people to avoid crowding and unnecessary travel and stressed on COVID-19-appropriate behaviour and expedited vaccination.
Addressing a joint press conference on the pandemic, a senior official said the predominant strain in India continued to be Delta, including in recently identified clusters. India has so far reported 358 Omicron cases of which 121 of the 183 cases analysed were found to have foreign travel history. The analysis also revealed that of the 183 cases, 91% were fully vaccinated with three having also taken booster shots, 70 per cent were asymptomatic. It also found that 61% of the patients were male.
Citing the findings of the World Health Organisation, the government said Omicron has significant growth advantage over Delta and is spreading fast through communities with a doubling time of 1.5 to 3 days. “The world is witnessing a fourth surge in COVID-19 cases and having an overall positivity rate of 6.1%,” government said.
It was also pointed out that the positivity rate in Kerala and Mizoram was much higher than national average and a cause for concern. It said 20 districts across the country were reporting a weekly positivity rate between 5 and 10% and two districts over 10%. As far as vaccination progress, the government said about 61% of India’s adults were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 89% have been administered the first dose. The government has also appealed to the private sector health infrastructure to be ready to help and play an important role in managing the pandemic in view of the emergence of the Omicron variant.
The government also said the treatment protocols for Covid-19 and Delta would apply to Omicron variant also. “While the evidence emerges, the immune escape potential for Delta is higher and its high transmission rates will lead to high surge cases,” Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said.
According the Union Health Ministry data updated at 8 am, India recorded 6,650 new coronavirus infections, taking its tally of cases to 3,47,72,626, while the count of active cases has declined to 77,516. The death toll due to the disease has climbed to 4,79,133, with 374 daily fatalities being recorded. The Covid numbers in major cities included Delhi (180 cases), Mumbai (683 cases), Kolkata (217 cases), Bengaluru (405 cases). The tally of Omicron cases in the country rose to 358. Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of the new variant cases, at 88, followed by Delhi with 67, Telangana 38, Tamil Nadu 34, Karnataka 31 and Gujarat 30.
In Maharashtra which experienced a deadly second wave, gatherings of five or more would not be allowed in Maharashtra between 9 pm and 6 am apparently to discourage Christmas and new year eve mass celebrations. The new guidelines, which will come into effect from midnight – seven days before New Year’s Eve, restrict attendance at indoor weddings to 100 people and not more than 250 people or 25 per cent whichever is less in outdoor weddings.
Indoor venues like gyms, spas, hotels, theatres and cinema halls will be allowed to run at 50 per cent capacity while sports events will be allowed to have 25 per cent occupancy, the rules said. The restrictions were announced on a day when Mumbai reported 683 new COVID-19 cases, the highest since October 6, while Maharashtra added 1,410 new cases – the sharpest rise since October 27. The tally of Omicron infections reported in Maharashtra rose to 108 on Friday with 20 cases of the new coronavirus variant coming to light, officials said. As many as 54 of 108 patients have been already discharged. Eleven new cases were reported from Mumbai, six from Pune, two from Satara and one from Ahmednagar.
Following MP and UP which earlier imposed night curfew, Haryana became the third state to bring back night curfews in view of rising cases of the highly contagious Omicron variant of Covid. Starting tonight, public commute will be prohibited from 11 pm to 5 am across Haryana till further orders. Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar also said unvaccinated people and people with face masks would not be allowed entry into the public places like malls, restaurants, banks, sabzi mandi and grain markets. In Gujarat, the night curfew time in eight major cities in the state was extended by two hours over Omicron concerns, curfew to be in force from 11 pm to 5 am.
Meanwhile, a modelling study by researchers at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur said the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India might peak by February 3, 2022. However, the forecast is based on the assumption that India will follow the trends of rise in cases seen in many countries globally driven by the Omicron variant of coronavirus.