4 deaths take toll to 5,24,761; new variants, complacency to blame
Increased travel, social gatherings, and opening up of economic activities besides complacency towards Covid-appropriate behaviour have started reflecting on the daily Covid tally, with India reporting 8,582 new infections on Sunday. This is the second day in a row that the cases have crossed the 8,000 mark. In contrast, just a few days ago, i.e. till mid-May, the cases were on a decline.
However, experts have observed that such fluctuations in the Covid wave pattern are likely to remain in the near future as people have become complacent towards basic Covid-appropriate behaviour and have increased travelling and attending social gatherings sans masks.
They also attributed the rise in Coronavirus cases to the emergence of the new variants, BA.4 and BA.5, in addition to BA.2, which have a slightly higher transmissibility as compared to the other Omicron sub-lineages. “But these are not as deadly as Omicron which swept the country last year,” they said while ruling out the emergence of the fourth wave.
An official from the Union Health Ministry pointed out that there has been at least a 100 per cent increase in new Covid infections so far this month, with the test positivity rate (TPR) — a vital marker in assessing the spread of an outbreak — touching 2.26 recently. The country’s case count has moved up to touch 4,32,22,017, said the Health Ministry. Besides, with four virus-related deaths also being reported on Sunday till 8 A.M., the Covid death count stood at 5,24,761. The four new fatalities include three from Kerala and one from Maharashtra which is witnessing a sharp surge in cases with Mumbai alone sharing a major caseload.
Seventeen districts in India, including seven from Kerala and five from Mizoram, are reporting a weekly positivity rate of more than 10 per cent. In 24 districts, including seven from Kerala and four each from Maharashtra and Mizoram, the weekly positivity is between 5 to 10 per cent, the official said.
AIIMS chief Dr. Randeep Guleria cited poor turnout for booster doses and non-adherence of Covid-appropriate behaviour as the top reasons behind the spike.
“People were being unenthusiastic about getting the booster dose against the Coronavirus and it was one of the key reasons behind the latest rise in cases. Complacency has set in among people towards following Covid-appropriate behavior,” he said.