Nation at risk: Covid situation going from bad to worse says Centre

New Delhi: The current Covid situation in the country is going from bad to worse with the surge in cases and the trends showing that the virus is still very active, VK Paul, chairman of the National Expert Committee on Vaccine Administration, cautioned on Tuesday.

Addressing the weekly press conference, Paul said: "As you have noticed in the last few weeks, the situation is becoming bad to worse. It is a serious cause of concern. In some States, there is a huge cause of worry. No part of the country should be complacent."

Against the backdrop of increasing cases in the previous three weeks, Paul said that the trends show is that "coronavirus is still very active, can penetrate our defences and strike back when we think that we have found ways to control it".

"We are facing an increasingly severe and intensive situation in some districts but the whole country is potentially at risk. All efforts to contain the virus and save lives should be taken," he said.

Meanwhile, speaking on the coronavirus situation in the country, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that the weekly national average positivity rate is currently 5.65 per cent.

Of the 11,064 genome samples sequenced, UK variant detected in 807, South African variant in 47 and Brazilian variant found in one, Bhushan further said.

Covaxin, Covishield vaccines are effective against UK, Brazilian variants of coronavirus, and work against South African variant going on, he said.

Bhushan also said that many States are not isolating positive patients and that people are being told to isolate at home.

"It must be monitored if people are isolating at home. If they can't, they must be quarantined institutionally. Delhi was able to bring numbers under control through it."