Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said masks and Covid-19 appropriate behaviour will continue in the country, urged accelerated administration of precaution doses on ‘mission mode’ and directed officials to focus on effective surveillance strategy and strengthening genome sequencing in view of detection of cases of a new sub-variant of Omicron from parts of the country.
The health minister, who chaired a meeting in the afternoon to review the Covid-19 situation in the country, directed officials to focus on the effective implementation of surveillance strategy and strengthening genome sequencing for early detection of variants.
Mandaviya said wearing masks, Covid-19-appropriate behaviour and protocols will continue across the country. He also highlighted the need for community awareness for continued implementation of Covid Appropriate Behaviour especially in view of the upcoming festival season.
The minister stressed on monitoring entry points, the statement said. Mandaviya stressed the need to undertake adequate testing (with higher proportion of RTPCR) and effective Covid surveillance to assess and control the spread of infection in a timely manner.
He directed officials to continue to focus on surveillance, particularly through sentinel sites including monitoring of SARI and ILI cases, and on Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) to scan for any possible mutation in the wake of identification of Omicron variants in other countries, the statement said.
He also urged officials to closely monitor hospitalizations due to Covid and urged officials to increase the pace of vaccination, including precautionary doses to eligible beneficiaries, it said.
The meeting was attended by Dr Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Govt, S Aparna, Secretary (Pharmaceuticals), Dr Rajiv Bahl, DG ICMR, Dr V K Paul, NITI Aayog member (Health) and, Chairperson of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) N K Arora along with other senior officials of the Health Ministry.
The meeting was held amid growing concerns over reports of new variants like BA.2.3.20 and BQ.1 and their possible surge, especially during winter and the festive season.
The Maharashtra government has issued an advisory cautioning citizens that Covid-19 cases could rise, especially during winter and the festive season. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) asked citizens to get vaccinated against the viral infection, if not done so till now, get booster dose, wear face masks in crowded places and follow other Covid-19 protocols.
In a statement, the BMC said the festival season is a critical period as there may be a tendency to ignore COVID-19 safe behaviour during festivals due to large gatherings, events, fairs and crowds in enclosed and non-ventilated spaces.
Asking people to avoid close contact with symptomatic coronavirus patients, the civic body asked them to wash hands frequently, maintain good ventilation indoors, wear face masks at crowded places, cover nose and mouth with handkerchief/tissue paper while sneezing and coughing.
Noting the uptick in daily Covid-19 cases registered in Mumbai in the second week of October, the civic body said new sub-variants of Omicron, BQ.1 (US variant), BA.2.3.20 apart from XBB, which is a recombinant of BA.2.75 and BJ.1, have been detected in Maharashtra.
According to an Indian Express report, “XBB is on the rise, causing 20 to 30 per cent of infections in some states, like Maharashtra,” a scientist who is part of the country’s Sars-CoV-2 sequencing consortium was quoted as saying.
These new variants have a growth advantage over other variants of Omicron like BA.2.75 and also immune evasive properties, it stated while advising residents to take precautionary measures to prevent a surge in cases.
The advisory said people having difficulty in breathing, immunocompromised patients and those who have recently visited countries where the coronavirus infection is prevalent, should seek immediate medical advice.
In Delhi, the Chamber of Trade and Industry has urged Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora to deploy adequate personnel in various markets ahead of the expected surge in footfall ahead of Diwali festival after two years of Covid-19-triggered pandemic.
“The CTI has written a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora. In the letter, chairman Brijesh Goyal and president Subhash Khandelwal have urged that adequate police force should be deployed in the markets, and paramilitary forces should be deployed if needed,” the traders’ body said.
Goyal said the footfall has increased in many markets, including Chandni Chowk, Bhagirath Palace, Karol Bagh, Tank Road Market, South X, Janpath Market, Khari Baoli, Connaught Place, Palika Bazar, Rohini Avantika, Kamla Nagar, Lajpat Nagar and Rajouri Garden. “The shopkeepers are excited but are also worried. All the customers of Delhi-NCR come to these markets to shop. During Diwali, the local police should work in coordination with the market associations,” the statement said.
India’s Vaccination Drive
The Health Ministry has decided against procuring more Covid vaccines as of now and has surrendered Rs 4,237 crore, or nearly 85 per cent of the 2022-23 budget allocation for inoculation purposes, to the Finance Ministry.
According to officials, around 1.8 crore doses are still available with the governments at the Centre and in states and the stock is sufficient to continue the vaccination drive for around six months, given the low uptake of vaccines among people due to the declining Covid case burden. The cumulative Covid vaccine doses administered in the country have crossed 219.33 crore.
Official sources said 98 per cent of India’s adult population have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 92 per cent have been fully vaccinated. Also, 83.7 per cent of adolescents aged 15 to 18 years have been vaccinated with the first dose since the vaccination for this age group began on January 3, while 72 per cent have got both the first and second doses.
In the age-group of 12-14 years, 87.3 per cent have been administered the first dose while 68.1 per cent are fully vaccinated. Of the total eligible target population of 18 years and above, a little over 27 per cent have been administered precaution doses so far.
(With PTI inputs)
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