India logs over 20k Covid cases two days in a row, WHO cautions of new variants

Adding up to the global resurgence of Covid-19 cases, India’s daily infection count is hovering above the 20,000-mark for the last two days. At least 20,038 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours in the country with active caseload standing at 1,39,073. Active cases now constitute 0.32 per cent of the country's total positive cases, Union Health Ministry data showed.

According to the weekly epidemiological report by the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, the number of weekly cases has increased for the fifth consecutive week, after a declining trend since the last peak in March 2022. During the week of 4 to 10 July 2022, over 5.7 million new cases were reported, a 6 per cent increase as compared to the previous week. As of 10 July 2022, just under 553 million confirmed cases and over 6.3 million deaths have been reported globally, the WHO data showed.

In the South East Asia region, the highest numbers of new cases were reported from India (120 222 new cases; 8.7 new cases per 100 000) which is a 7 per cent increase. Similarly, India also recorded the highest deaths in last one week with 229 people succumbing to the highly infectious viral disease with a 15 per cent rise in the deaths, according to the WHO data.

The WHO has warned of the emerging coronavirus variants. “We need to be prepared for these #COVID19 waves- each new #variant will be more transmissible & immune evasive- higher numbers infected will translate into greater hospitalizations & sickness. All countries must have a data driven plan to quickly respond to changing situations,” WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan tweeted.

“Cases & deaths still high globally, & rising in many places. Need to double down on vaccination & boosting, which is the only way to reduce mortality. Also, ventilation, masking, testing & safe behavior. This is the expected pattern for the near future,” Swaminathan said in another tweet.

The Union Health Ministry has advised states to continue implementation and monitoring of necessary measures for prompt and effective management of Covid-19 and to ensure compliance with various advisories issued by them. "The five-fold strategy, i.e., Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination should be followed with continued focus on Covid Appropriate Behaviour, Monitoring clusters of new Covid-19 cases, Adequate testing as per guidelines, Monitoring of Influenza-like illness (Ill) and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) cases in all health facilities on a regular basis for detecting early warning signals of the spread of infection," said Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary in a letter recently sent to the states.

“Genomic sequencing for prescribed samples of international passengers, collection of samples from sentinel sites (identified health facilities), and local clusters of cases should be done. It is essential that the state must maintain a strict watch and take pre-emptive action if required to control any emerging spread of infection,” Bhushan said.