Amid warning from the World Health Organization (WHO) that the Covid virus is here to stay, populous States like Maharashtra and Delhi have witnessed an alarming rise in coronavirus deaths.

Overall fatality surged to touch 72 on Thursday, the highest so far in the last one month even as countrywide infection tally remained within a daily range of 8,000 to 20,000 cases. While the country saw 72 deaths on Thursday, the previous day death was just 29 on a caseload of 8,000 plus. 

Delhi on Thursday reported 1,964 cases and eight Covid deaths in the past 24 hours.

India saw a single-day rise of 12,608 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 4,42,98,864, while the active cases declined to 1,01,343, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.   The national death toll climbed to 5,27,206 with 72 fatalities, including 29 fatalities in Kerala.

Speaking on whether the reason for the spike in Delhi is a new Omicron subvariant, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist of the WHO, said, “All these numbers basically indicate a combination of different mutations.”

“In India and about 15 to 20 other countries, BA.2 (Omicron sub-variant) has further evolved and we have BA 2.75 and also BA 2.74, BA 2.76 and by studying the mutations, scientists have a very good idea of what each variant is doing. BA 2.75 has certainly become more efficient at transmitting itself, and is able to evade the immune response,” said Dr Swaminathan was  quoted by NDTV.

The BA.2.75 subvariant was first detected in Delhi in June, and experts think it might have something to do with the rise in cases in the city since then. A study published in JAMA Network Open too said the majority of people who were likely infected with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, didn’t know they had the virus.

Thus, raising fears that undiagnosed infections can increase transmission of the virus. This also might be the reason for the increase in cases, whoever is going for the test.

Delhi, which has made wearing the mask mandatory in public recently, reported 1,652 cases of coronavirus infection and eight deaths in the last 24 hours. Barring Tuesday, more than 2,000 new cases have been reported in the last two weeks in the national Capital. Positivity rate has also climbed at 20 per cent. The death toll, on an average, is around 8-10. Maharashtra also saw a jump in cases as it reported 1,800 fresh coronavirus cases and six deaths.

Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, reported 1,201 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday and two deaths, highest since June 30. The city’s caseload rose to 11,35,680 on Thursday while the death toll reached 19,670.

The Central Government has urged many States, including Delhi and Maharashtra, to keep vigil and follow Covid-19 protocol.  Delhi has seen a two-fold rise in Covid deaths in August.

Delhi has witnessed a rise in hospitalisation due to a sudden spike in Covid cases with active cases increasing from 4,274 on August 1 to 6,809 on August 17. Doctors have said the latest spike is due to a new variant and appealed to people to take booster shots.

Dr Suresh Kumar, Medical Director of LNJP Hospital said, “Hospitalisation has increased in LNJP in the last 10 days. The LNJP Hospital study shows the new variant is the reason for the spread of the virus,” adding that most of the patients being infected have not taken their second dose or the booster shot.

“90 per cent of coronavirus patients admitted to the hospital are those patients who have taken only two doses of the vaccine. At the same time, only 10 per cent of the patients got coronavirus infection after the third dose of the vaccine. It is clear that people who apply the precautionary doses are safer from corona infection,” Delhi deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.

He urged the public to get their booster shots and said patients who have availed their booster doses are safer than ones with two jabs.

The situation across the world is also disturbing. On Thursday, with a surge in deaths due to coronavirus, WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said,  “We cannot pretend it’s not there…. Just in the past week, 15,000 people around the world lost their lives to Covid-19. This is completely unacceptable when we have all the tools to prevent infections and save lives.”

“Learning to live with Covid-19 doesn’t mean we pretend it’s not there. It means we use all the tools we have to protect ourselves, and protect others,” Ghebreyesus said in a tweet.

He further said all the people across countries are tired of the virus and pandemic. “But the virus is not tired of us. Omicron remains the dominant variant, with the BA.5 sub-variant representing more than 90 per cent of sequences shared in the last month,” Ghebreyesus added.

“None of us is helpless. Please get vaccinated if you’re not, and get a booster (dose) if you need it. Wear a mask when you can’t distance yourself and try to avoid crowds, especially indoors. There is a lot to talk about learning to live with this virus but we cannot live with 15,000 deaths a week. We cannot live with mounting hospitalisations. We can’t live with inequitable access to vaccines and other tools,” he added.