INDIA on Monday recorded a sharp surge in its daily Covid-19 cases. A total of 33,750 fresh reported were reported, among them 175 fresh Omicron cases taking their caseload to 1,700. Also, India’s daily positivity rate has jumped to 3.84 percent. According to the data by the Union ministry of health, India’s cumulative Covid-19 caseload has jumped to 34,922,882 so far.
The rising cases has caused some alarm, especially in poll-bound states. The Election Commission of India has written to the chief secretaries of five poll-bound states, asking them to accelerate the pace of Covid-19 vaccination. Elections are scheduled to be held in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur this year. There is already some feeble talk of deferring polls, at least in a populous state like Uttar Pradesh if the growing infections lead to a third wave.
However, it is not only India where the advent of Omicron has forced the government to take urgent pre-emptive measures. Ever since the detection of the virus in South Africa, the virus strain has triggered a worldwide alarm. First to be spooked were the global markets which went into a tailspin – albeit, they have since recovered after there was some reassuring news that the impact of the new variant is still under control. But the preliminary findings about the virus have revealed that it is highly transmissible and could cause havoc if no Standard Operating Procedures are followed. England is the first country that acknowledged the enormity of the challenge. In a televised statement, the British prime minister Boris Johnson warned that his country could be staring at 75,000 deaths by April with ‘tidal wave’ of Omicron. Britain has launched an ambitious Covid booster shot program to stop the virus’ spread. Britain is also the first country to officially announce death from the virus mutation. Omicron has accounted for about 40 percent of the cases in London, and hospital admissions are rising.
On the other hand, according to World Health Organization the Omicron coronavirus variant is more transmissible than the Delta strain and reduces vaccine efficacy. The WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned of a “Tsunami of cases.” The mutant, however, is said to cause less severe symptoms according to early data. The WHO has also warned that Omicron is now present in 63 countries and can become dominant in Europe soon. However, all is still not known about the virus. The understanding about it is still evolving. On a positive note, hospitalizations have been less. Here’s hoping that the challenge from the new virus mutant blows over soon.
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