Amidst the uproar in China over Coronavirus, 5 new cases of corona have also been reported in Delhi, while one patient died. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today directed the health department to ensure genome sequencing of samples and take other steps necessary to deal with any eventuality. The Chief Minister has also called an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the issue.
According to reports, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called an emergency meeting of health department officials on Thursday amid increasing cases of corona in other countries including China. In this, the current situation of Corona at the global level and its impact in Delhi will be assessed. Along with this, the preparations of the health department will be reviewed. Top officials of the Health Department will be present in the meeting along with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
On the other hand, in view of the increasing cases of Corona, the Central Government has also issued an advisory. Meanwhile, in the last 24 hours, 5 corona patients have appeared in Delhi, while one patient has died. Although the corona infection rate is only 0.19 percent. In the last 24 hours only 2642 corona tests were done and 8 patients were cured.
Three cases of BF.7, a variant of Omicron that is indirectly responsible for the rising cases of COVID-19 in China, have been reported in India so far. BF.7 is a substrain of Omicron’s variant BA.5 and is highly infectious. Its ‘incubation’ period is short. It has a high potential to reinfect or even infect people who have been vaccinated (COVID-19).
In a Covid review meeting chaired by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday, experts said that though there has not been an overall increase in the number of Covid cases so far, there is a need for continuous surveillance to track existing and emerging patterns. The minister asked people to follow the behavior related to prevention of spread of infection including wearing masks in crowded places and get vaccinated.
Corona is not over yet: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, today reviewed the situation with experts and officials in view of increase in cases of Covid-19 in some countries. Covid is not over yet. I have asked all concerned to be vigilant and increase vigilance. We are ready to deal with any situation.
In view of the rise in cases in Japan, USA, South Korea, Brazil and China, Mandaviya underlined the importance of being vigilant and always prepared against the new variant of the COVID-19 virus. He called for strengthening the surveillance system for Whole Genome Sequencing of COVID positive samples, so that if there is any variant of COVID-19 in the country, it can be detected well in time through the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG). can be identified.
The Minister was apprised in the meeting that the virus infection is on the decline in India and the average number of new cases of COVID-19 has come down to 158 in the week ending December 19, 2022. However, the average daily case of Covid-19 is increasing globally for the last six weeks. In the week ending December 19, 2022, an average of 5.9 lakh new cases of Covid-19 were registered in the world.
In a statement issued by the Union Ministry of Health, it was said that the reason for increasing Covid-19 infection in China is the BF.7 variant developed from its omicron form. It was informed during the meeting that Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu are at the forefront in terms of new cases of Covid-19, but overall Covid-19 cases are decreasing in the country. According to the report released on December 20, 2022, these five states accounted for 84 percent of the daily new Covid-19 cases in the country.
Covid-19 will be tested randomly by taking samples of international air passengers coming from China and other countries at the country’s airports. The step was taken after a meeting chaired by Mandaviya to review the COVID-19 situation in the country.
Many states of the country have also started taking steps at their level to deal with Covid. In the wake of a sudden spurt in new cases of COVID-19 in some parts of the world, the Karnataka government will start screening international passengers at the Bengaluru airport. The Arunachal Pradesh government has directed district health officials to ensure ‘genome sequencing’ of samples of people found infected.
Compulsory screening of travelers coming from abroad may start in Gujarat Amidst the rise in cases of Covid-19 in some countries of the world, Gujarat Health Minister Hrishikesh Patel on Wednesday asked the officials to make mandatory screening of travelers coming to the state from other countries. ordered to investigate.
Officials said it has also come to the fore that at least two cases of BF.7, the omicron variant of the coronavirus, were reported in Ahmedabad and Vadodara in September and November. The people in whom both the cases were found had returned from abroad.
