The Central government on Friday advised citizens to avoid nonessential travel and mass gatherings and to ensure that New Year celebrations are kept at a low key, even as the threat of a third wave of coronavirus infections looms over the country. The government also said that India has witnessed as many as 101 cases of Omicron variant of Covid-19 across 11 states and union territories.
Addressing a press conference, Joint Secretary with the Ministry of Health, Lav Agarwal said that 32 cases were reported in Maharashtra, 22 in Delhi, 17 in Rajasthan, 8 each in Karnataka and Telangana, 5 each in Gujarat and Kerala, one each in Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, respectively. He said that the Omicron variant has been found in 91 countries in the world.
“World Health Organization (WHO) has said that Omicron is spreading faster than the Delta variant in South Africa where Delta circulation was low. It’s likely Omicron will outpace Delta variant where community transmission occurs, WHO added,” Agarwal said.
The Health Ministry also said that non-essential travel and mass gatherings should be avoided, and festivities should be kept low key. And that vaccines alone will not help, so masks will have to be worn, and social distancing and hand hygiene too need to be maintained.
“New daily cases were recorded below 10,000 for the past 20 days. The case positivity for the last one week was 0.65%. Currently, Kerala contributes 40.31% to the total number of active cases in the country,” Agarwal added. However, 19 districts in the country are reporting 5-10% positivity rate per week, while five districts are reporting over 10%. The disricts with 5% case positivity rate have been advised to impose restrictions until the rate stays below 5% for at least two weeks.
The ministry also warned against an unprepared system getting overwhelmed with the sheer number of cases.
The Health Ministry further lauded the country’s vaccination drive and said that India is administering Covid-19 vaccine doses at the highest rate in the world and the daily rate of doses administered is 4.8 times the rate of doses administered in the United States and 12.5 times the rate of doses administered in the UK.
GENOME SEQUENCING NOT POSSIBLE
Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry also said that genome sequencing of every sample is not possible. Addressing a media conference on Friday, NITI Aayog Member of Health, Dr V.K. Paul said, “Genome sequencing of every sample is not possible. It is a surveillance and pandemic assessment and tracking tool, not a diagnostic tool as of now. We can assure sufficient systematic sampling is being undertaken.”
Further, Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research Dr Balram Bhargava said, “We have been discussing these anti-viral Covid-19 pills. We have found that these pills need to be given very early, even before the diagnosis of the disease. Scientific data is still not supported in a big way that the pills will be useful at the moment.”
PATIENTS DISCHARGED
In Delhi, five out of 10 patients infected with Omicron variant who had been admitted at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital have been discharged after testing negative for the virus, said a hospital official. Dr Suresh Kumar, LNJP MD, said, “LNJP, as the designated Omicron hospital, had ten Omicron cases, of which five have been discharged after testing negative.”
He further said that the hospital has a separate isolation ward with 100 beds, oxygen supply, and ICU. “We have a separate isolation ward with 100 beds, oxygen supply, and ICU. Fully vaccinated people are not as threatened by Omicron,” Kumar added.
MARKET TANKS ON OMICRON FEAR
Key indices of the Indian equities markets fell sharply on Friday dragged by across-the-board selling pressure as rising Omicron cases hit investors’ sentiments. The benchmark Sensex tanked nearly 900 points while Nifty slipped below 17,000 points. Auto, banking and financial stocks slumped on concern that fast-spreading Omicron cases would derail the economic recovery. Negative cues from the global economy and equities markets also dented the sentiments at the markets. The 30-stock S&P BSE Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange plunged 1.54 per cent or 889.40 points to 57,011.74 points. The Nifty 50 closed 1.53% lower at 16,985.20 points after touching a low of 16,966.45 points in the intra-day.
CLAIMS FROM RUSSIA, CHINA
Meanwhile, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said that the Russian Sputnik V and Sputnik Light vaccines induce robust neutralizing antibody response to Covid-19 variant Omicron. As per RDIF, Sputnik V vaccination is further strengthened by Sputnik Light booster, performing 3-7x better than other (including mRNA) vaccines. It demonstrated high virus-neutralizing activity (VNA) against the Omicron variant and is also expected to provide a strong defence against severe disease and hospitalization. “Virus neutralizing antibodies against Omicron 2-3 months after Sputnik Light booster were higher than antibodies developed against wild-type 6 months after Sputnik V vaccination. Based on these data the expected efficacy of Sputnik V with Sputnik Light booster against Omicron could be more than 80 per cent,” said RDIF. 100 per cent of individuals are re-vaccinated with Sputnik Light as a booster developed neutralizing antibodies against Omicron based on sera 2-3 months after the re-vaccination, it said.
China’s biotech firm Sinovac claimed that a third dose of its Covid-19 vaccine is 94% effective against the Omicron variant. This came a day after a study found that the two doses of the vaccine failed to generate any detectable antibody response against the fast-spreading variant.
BIDEN’S WARNING
Amid the unabated spread of the Omicron variant globally, US President Joe Biden on Thursday warned about a winter of “severe illness and death” for unvaccinated Americans as Covid-19 cases continue to spike across the country. “…I want to send a direct message to the American people: Due to the steps we’ve taken, Omicron has not yet spread as fast as it would’ve otherwise done and as is happening in Europe. But it’s here now, and it’s spreading, and it’s going to increase,” said Biden after meeting with members of his Covid-19 response team. “For the unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death—if you’re unvaccinated—for themselves, their families, and the hospitals they’ll soon overwhelm,” he added. Biden emphasised on the need to get booster shots in guarding against the virus amid the spread of a new variant. “About 60 million people have one—have been boosted. So, go get your shot today. Go get boosted if you’ve had your first two shots. If you haven’t, go get your first shot. It’s time. It’s time. It’s past time,” he said.