THE UNION HEALTH MINISTRY said that Omicron is now the dominant variant of Covid-19 in India and there are also early indications of a plateau in the number of cases, with just the top 10 states contributing to 77 per cent of total active cases in the country. The percentage of the highly transmissible Omicron variant increased rapidly in December and January and the prevalence of the Omicron sub-variant called BA.2 is increasing in the community, it added.
The government credited wide vaccination coverage for a fall in the number of deaths. “Active case numbers and corresponding deaths are much lower in this wave,” it said and pointed out that the severity of infections is also relatively lower. More than 90 per cent of cases are in home isolation with mild to moderate severity and there are a lower number of cases needing oxygen and ICU beds, it further said.
The Centre had earlier said that Omicron variant is now in community transmission stage, particularly in metropolitan cities. Highlighting some figures regarding the spread of the virus, the Centre said that 11 states have more than 50,000 active cases, and 14 states have between 10,000 and 50,000 active cases. As many as 551 districts in the country are reporting a positivity rate of over five per cent, which is up from 527 districts last week.
Talking about Omicron and its sub-strains, the director of the National Centre for Disease Control said that initially when the variant was being spread through foreign travellers, then BA.1 was prevalent. But now as Omicron transmission is in the community stage, the prevalence of BA.2 is noted. This prevalence is also limited to some states. A total of 10 states are contributing to 77 per cent of the active cases. More than 90 per cent of cases are under home isolation, the health ministry data revealed.
On May 7, 2021, at the peak of the second wave, there were 4,14,188 new cases and 3,679 deaths while only three per cent of people were fully vaccinated. Comparing this with the data of January 21, the ministry said on January 21, 2022, there were 3,47,254 new cases and 435 deaths and 75 per cent of people are fully vaccinated.
In Manipur, the daily positivity rate is increasing by leaps and bounds and as such the presence of the new variant Omicron is suspected to be the driver of the recent surge. From a single confirmed case of Omicron, it has now increased to 42 and everyone knows the detection of Omicron variant takes time as it has to go through a rigorous process of whole genome sequencing.
From a daily positivity rate below 5 per cent with 72 positive cases on January 10, it steadily climbed to 14.4 per cent with 279 cases and 2 deaths. On January 21, it reached 19.3 per cent with 578 positive cases and 2 deaths, while the daily positivity rate came down to 19.1 per cent with 365 positive cases and 2 deaths on January 27. But who is counting the percentage and daily positive figures?
Everyone is busy with the ensuing state assembly elections and flouting the SOPs issued by both the state Disaster Management Authority and the Election Commission of India. Although the Election Commission had banned election rallies and imposed restrictions on door-to-door campaigning till January 31, election related feasts and gatherings are going on. There are reports of candidates or their agents organising these get-togethers every now and then.
Meanwhile, the state’s vaccination percentage is at 58.17 for the first dose and 44.33 for the second dose while it is still low in the hill districts.
