Surge in COVID-19 cases across India; Mumbai, Bengaluru Urban, Kolkata, among districts of concern: Health Ministry

Representational image: Reuters

India is witnessing a sharp surge in COVID-19 cases with Mumbai, Bengaluru Urban, Thane, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune emerging as districts of concern, the Union Health Ministry said on January 12.

The case positivity rose from 1.1 percent on December 30 to 11.05 percent on January 12, the Ministry said.

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"India is witnessing a sharp surge in COVID-19 cases. The emerging states of concern reporting surge in COVID-19 cases are Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and Gujarat," said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry.

The country on January 12 recorded 1,94,720 fresh COVID-19 cases and 442 deaths in the last 24 hours. The active cases increased to 9,55,319, the highest in 211 days. The daily positivity rate increased to 11.05 percent.

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The Ministry said while  115 confirmed deaths have been reported globally due to Omicron, one death has taken place in India due to the new variant of COVID-19.

"The high surge in cases is being reported globally in as many as 159 countries. Eight countries in Europe are reporting an increase of cases by more than two times in the last two weeks," Agarwal said.

The Omicron variant has a substantial growth advantage over the Delta variant as per World Health Organisation (WHO), the Ministry said.

"Data from South Africa, UK, Canada, Denmark suggests a reduced risk of hospitalization for Omicron compared to Delta," Agarwal said.

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Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that over 2o million children in the age group 15-18 years have been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far. The PM praised the sense of responsibility of the youth that, he said, was evident from the fast pace of vaccination in the drive that started on January 3.

The Ministry cited data from New York in the USA to show how vaccines work against infection and hospitalisation. "Fully vaccinated people have 78 percent lower chance of getting infected," Agarwal said.

The Health Ministry said that after a review meeting by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the COVID-19 situation, the government has on January 9 revised discharge policy with severity categorised into mild and moderate cases.

"Mild cases will be discharged after at least seven days from testing positive and non-emergency for three successive days. There is no need for testing prior to discharge," Agarwal said.

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In case of moderate infection, if there is the resolution of symptoms and the patient's Oxygen saturation level stays above 93 percent for three successive days, then such patients will be discharged, he said.

The Ministry urged that there should be a rational approach for medicine use.

"We are concerned about the overuse and misuse of drugs. Don't overuse, it will have aftermath," Dr. VK Paul, Niti Aayog Member (Health) insisting that people need to be careful since the Omicron variant is not a common cold. The fact remains that vaccination remains a critical aspect of our response, he said.