Covid rearing its head: India can’t sit back & relax

The most unwanted visitor - Coronavirus - is back with a bang. We all hate to hear this. Agreed. But the warning bells have already been rung. The World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned the world against it and has stepped up global monitoring of the cases. The new variant Eris is in fact a sub-variant named EG.5.1. This has already entered India. Authorities confirmed that it has been lurking around since May this year.

Globally, over one million new COVID-19 cases and over 3,100 deaths were reported in the 28 days between July 3 to July 30, 2023. While five WHO regions have reported decreases in the number of both cases and deaths, the Western Pacific Region has reported an increase in the number of cases and a decrease in the number of deaths. As of July 30, 2023, over 768 million confirmed cases and over 6.9 million deaths were reported globally due to Coronavirus. Currently, reported cases do not accurately represent infection rates due to the reduction in testing and reporting globally. During this 28-day period, 46% (107 of 234) of countries and territories reported at least one case to WHO – a proportion that has been declining since mid-2022.

While globally testing has come down, we have almost done away with it. India simply can’t sit back and relax. It has to act immediately. The health authorities in the United Kingdom are back on alert after a new variant of the Covid-19 virus is proliferating at a fast pace. Media reports suggest that the sub-variant Eris is spreading quickly in the country. Notably, the variant Eris was recognized only on July 31, after the infections from the virus skyrocketed. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised the countries to stay alert and follow the Covid appropriate behaviour.

As per UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the number of Covid-19 cases is rising in the country. The health agency said that 5.4% of 4,396 respiratory specimens reported through the Respiratory DataMart System were identified as COVID-19. The overall COVID-19 hospital admission rate for week 30 was 1.97 per 1,00,000 population, an increase from 1.17 per 1,00,000 in the previous report, the UKHSA said. One good news is that so far hospitalizations are not much.

By taking simple precautions and following Covid appropriate behaviour, this could be tackled well. The Eris sub-variant is making one in seven new COVID cases. “COVID-19 case rates continued to increase this week compared to our previous report. 5.4% of 4,396 respiratory specimens reported through the Respiratory DataMart System were identified as COVID-19. This is compared to 3.7% of 4,403 from the previous report,” the UKHSA said in a report. The first and foremost suggestion that the UK authorities are extending is to wash the hands regularly and often. Let us not presume that India still does not have the problem. We don’t have it because we have not started testing for it. In addition, it is election time now in the country and there are enough politicians available for us here who quickly turn this into a political slugfest robbing the seriousness of the problem. Let us take precautions first on our own.