As against Saturday, India reported 159,632 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday. According to the data shared by the Union Health Ministry this is a 12.4 per cent higher than the Saturday figure. Of these new cases, 3,623 cases were of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the Coronavirus. This brings the country’s cumulative caseload to 3,55,28,004 while the total recoveries were at 3,44,53,603. A total of 40,863 patients recovered in the last 24 hours. The good part is that the recovery rate is now at 96.98 per cent, which is much better than the second wave which hit in the middle of the last year. India’s active caseload now stands at 590,611, the highest in around 197 days. However, in the last 24 hours, active cases increased by 118,442. India had last logged 165,553 new COVID infections in a single day on May 29 last year.
According to the Union Health Ministry data India logged 552 new cases of Omicron, taking the total tally of such infections to 3,623 across 27 States and UTs so far, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. Out of the total Omicron cases, 1,409 people have migrated or recovered. States like neighbouring Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 1,009 cases followed by Delhi at 513, Karnataka 441, Rajasthan 373, Kerala 333 and Gujarat 204. Goa in the recent past, had reported 19 cases.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a high-level virtual review meeting on the spike in COVID-19 cases. This meeting was held at a time when both the Delta and Omicron variants are fuelling a surge in cases of infection in different parts of the country. The meeting was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. Top officials who also attended this meeting were Aviation Secretary, Home Secretary, Cabinet Secretary, and Chairman of the Railway Board, among others. The major concern is for the five poll-bound States and on Saturday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) banned all roadshows and physical rallies ahead of the Assembly polls in five States, namely Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.
One of country’s richest state’s Maharashtra, on Saturday decided that it would close swimming pools and gyms from Monday while schools and colleges have been closed till February 15 after daily cases in the State jumped to over 41,000. The State government has said only fully vaccinated people will be allowed into private offices while limiting the capacity to 50 per cent of the total workforce. Apart from a steep rise in Covid cases in the poll-bound state of Punjab, a cause of worry is the increased number of patients on oxygen in the past 24 hours. According to the State’s medical bulletin released on Saturday, 226 patients were put on oxygen support from just 62 on Friday. This was a jump of 264 per cent in just 24 hours. Media reports have revealed that even the Chief Electoral Officer of the state of Punjab is down with Covid.
In the United Kingdom, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Corona virus pandemic has “taken a terrible toll on our country” as he renewed his appeal for people to get vaccinated. The McKinsey report owing to the rise in number of cases in the Western countries, has suggested that some small businesses may close because they are in industries, such as accommodations, food service, and educational services that are affected by changed customer behaviour, especially the physical distancing and mandated operational restrictions that began during the pandemic. Other small businesses may close because they were already at risk financially before the crisis.
However, in India as reported in foreign journals, that the Covid protocols are being maintained far better than the Western countries. People in India, which is one of the largest populated countries in the world, have realised that only mask and physical distancing will help them, a research report reported in the United States. This certainly does not certify that India can lie down and take it easy as the new variant is spreading faster than before. It is time to ensure that we keep safe and keep others safe.
