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Kerala posts highest daily count of 55,475; Maha sees 86 deaths

 Kerala posts highest daily count of 55,475; Maha sees 86 deaths

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26.01.2022

In terms of fresh cases, the third-wave surge continued to slow in the country despite a massive surge in Kerala, which posted its highest-ever daily count of 55,475. Close to 2. 87 lakh new cases were reported in the country on Tuesday, up from 2. 54 lakh on the preceding day. Last week, daily cases had hit a high of 3. 47 lakh on Thursday.

Deaths were up sharply in Maharashtra, which reported 86 fatalities on Tuesday, the highest daily toll in 110 days. Of these, Mumbai recorded 10 deaths.

Other states grapplingwith surging deaths on Tuesday included Kerala (70), Karnataka (52), Tamil Nadu (48), Gujarat (28), Chhattisgarh (23), Assam (19), Haryana (18), J&K (14) and Andhra Pradesh (12). These were among 12 states and UTs that reported their highest single-day deaths during the third wave on Tuesday. Daily fatalities remained high in several other states, includ- ing Bengal (36), Delhi (31), Punjab (30) and Rajasthan (22). On Tuesday, daily cases saw a big spike in just two states/UTs — Kerala and J&K.

While Kerala reported a very high positivity rate of 49. 4% (with one out of every two tests giving a positive result for Covid), J&K posted 6,570 new cases, the highest single-day count in the UT since the start of the pandemic. While the next two-three days are likely to reveal whether the third wave will rise any further than last week's high, the count of active cases registered a slight fall for the second day running.

India’s Covid cases top 4cr, 3rd wave tally now over 50L  Daily Deaths Cross 500, Up 27% In A Day

Recorded infections of Covid-19 in India crossed 4 crore on Tuesday, with 50 lakh fresh cases added in the last three weeks alone during the Omicrondriven third wave of the pandemic in the country. India’s Covid case count continues to be the second highest in the world after the US, where nearly 7.3 crore cases have been logged till date. India had reached the 3-crore mark in total cases on June 22, 2021, when the second wave was waning. During that wave, the country saw the count rise from 2 crore to 3 crore in just 40 days. Meanwhile, daily deaths rose by a steep 27% in a day, with 571 fatalities repor- ted on Tuesday, the highest daily count in five months since Aug 25, 2021, when 603 deaths were recorded. The toll on Monday was 449.

Cold-wave conditions likely to set in from January 28-29

 Cold-wave conditions likely to set in from January 28-29

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23.01.2022

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), Narela was the coldest station as the maximum temperature settled at 13. 5 degrees Celsius, eight notches below normal. Severe cold day was also witnessed at the Ridge and SPS Mayur Vihar. While Lodhi Road, Palam, Jafarpur and Ayanagar saw cold day as the maximum temperature was recorded at 14. 9, 14. 8, 14. 7 and 14. 8 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The met department has predicted cold day conditions at a few places for Tuesday and Wednesday. “Delhi saw a long spell of cold day conditions in parts of the capital from January10 to 21. However, the current spell will not continue for long as significant improvement is expected from January 27 as strong winds are likely to set in,” said R K Jenamani, senior scientist at IMD.

He added, “Six western disturbances impacted the region this January and a seventh one is expected to affect from January 28. Western disturbances led to cloudy sky, excess rain and cold day conditions. ”

The criteria for a “cold day” is when the minimum temperature is below 10 degrees Celsi-us and the departure of maximum temperature from normal is 4. 5 degrees or above. A “severe cold day” is declared when the departure of maximum temperature from normal is 6. 5 degrees or above.

Though January saw a long spell of cold day conditions, no cold wave was seen in this month so far. However, cold wave conditions may set in from January 28-29. “The minimum temperature is likely to dip from January 2829. The night temperature mostly remained above normal this January,” said Jenamani. A cold wave is considered when the minimum temperature is four or more degrees below normal.

The minimum temperature on Monday was reported at 8 degrees Celsius. Shallow fog was recorded in Delhi as the visibility was 700-800 metres at Palam till 9. 30 am. The visibility at Safdarjung was 800 metres from 5. 30 am to 7. 30 am.

Delhi’s air quality, meanwhile, continued to remain in the “poor” category with an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 241. System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the forecasting body under the union ministry of earth sciences, said, “Relatively stable atmosphere and low mixing layer height has prevented settling of higher level dust to near the ground. AQI is likely to remain within “poor” category on Tuesday and the Republic Day as the impact of western disturbance has diminished. ”

City shivers on ‘severe cold day’, more ahead

New Delhi: Delhi shivered under “severe cold day” conditions at several places and “cold day” in the rest on Monday as the day temperature stayed below 15 degrees Celsius, with cold northerly winds sweeping the region and low clouds screening out sunlight, reports Priyangi Agarwal.

Safdarjung saw the first severe cold day of the season as the maximum dipped to 14.8 degrees Celsius, seven notches below normal. Similar conditions are expected over the next two-three days while a drop in night temperatures after January 27 is likely as Delhiites are in for cold spells till nearly the end of the month.

Corona may not die soon, but it’s time to kill fear, say experts Could Turn Endemic And Continue For A Few Years: Doctors

 Corona may not die soon, but it’s time to kill fear, say experts

Could Turn Endemic And Continue For A Few Years: Doctors

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Sumitra Deb Roy & Malathy Iyer

TNN

22.01.2022

Is the end of the Covid pandemic fear near? The Covid-causing coronavirus has stumped experts so often that only a few are willing to give an affirmative reply, but the overwhelming consensus is that “it is time to stop living in fear”.

The pandemic could continue for a “few months more” before transforming into an endemic disease with localised outbreaks for the next few years, said a doctor from a civic hospital. Physician Gautam Bhansali believes cities such as Mumbai should consider Covid-19 as a seasonal  flu. “We dealt with the Omicron wave without any stress on health infrastructure, oxygen shortage or crisis of beds. We cannot ignore the fact that 95% of the people who are testing positive are asymptomatic,” he said.

Epidemiologist Dr Jayaprakash Muliyil, who came under fire for equating Omi- cron with the flu, told TOI the fact remains that the new variant spreads like cold and causes a mild disease. In the UK, 70% of people with cold tested positive for Omicron. “In Washington, they looked at 3,340 Omicron positive cases where mortality was zero. Similarly, in California, 53,000 Omicron infections were studied and negligible mortality was found. The third wave has shown that India’s health system can also handle the load,” said Dr Muliyil.Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the Maharashtra government’s task force on Covid-19, has a different take on the new liberal Covid policies. “The policies adopted by some foreign countries merely mark a shift in policies (rather than the end of Covid),” he said.

Three factors, said Joshi, have brought about these changes: the new wave is relatively mild, large pockets of the world are vaccinated realisation that continued restrictions would be detrimental to the economy and education.

Daily Covid deaths at third-wave high

India reported a slight drop in fresh cases on Friday, with the day's tally likely to stay below 3.4 lakh, but deaths from the virus rose to 407, the highest single-day toll during the present wave, with data from one state yet to come in. Maharashtra posted the highest tally of cases on Friday at 48,270. Fatalities remained high in Delhi (38), Bengal (35), Tamil Nadu and Kerala (33 each). 

‘Reinfection a possibility’

Amid the Omicron wave, health experts have not ruled out the possibility of reinfection of the variant among patients, bringing back the focus on Covid-appropriate behaviour and vaccination to check spread and deaths. Meanwhile, the Karnataka government on Friday lifted the weekend curfew with immediate effect.

300 Dists Seeing Weekly Positivity Rate Of Over 5%

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New Delhi: India is witnessing a “phenomenally high” growth rate in Covid-19 cases with 300 districts recording above 5% weekly positivity rate, up from 78 districts a week ago, officials said.
Tamil Nadu’s positivity rate on Wednesday was 11.3%, while the weekly average test positivity rate was 7.7%. Hotspots Chennai and Chengalpet recorded more than 20% positivity on Wednesday. The surge in cases is also evident as more states are reporting high caseload, with some including poll-bound UP (14 times), Bihar (11.27 times) and MP (10.95 times) witnessing an exponential rise in active caseload over one week.
Endorsing the World Health Organisation’s warning, health officials in India urged people to not become complacent and treat Omicron infection as common cold. “Omicron is not the common cold, cannot take it lightly. We need to be vigilant, get vaccinated and follow Covid-appropriate behaviour,” NI- TI Aayog member-health V K Paul said. At present, 19 states have more than 10,000 active cases, compared to six such states just a week ago. In Punjab, active cases are 8.65 times the load a week ago.

›Must not slacken, P 10

Chennai, 3 districts report 60% of cases

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Tamil Nadu on Wednesday added 17,934 new Covid-19 cases when 29 of the 38 districts reported a surge in fresh cases. Chennai with 7,372 new cases, along with Chengalpet (1,840), Tiruvallur (931), Kancheepuram (620) reported nearly 60% of (10,763) of new cases in Tamil Nadu.

 

In Pondy, every third sample is positive

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

11.01.2022

Puducherry: One in three swab samples tested in Puducherry returned a positive for Covid-19 infection in the last 24 hours. Of the 1,570 samples tested, 489 samples were positive, registering a positivity rate of 31. 2%.

The number of samples tested daily has gone down by half on Monday. Healthcare authorities tested more than 3,000 samples a day for the last four days. The number of active cases stood at 1,722 on Monday after17 patients recovered.

Puducherry headquarters reported the maximum freshcases (438) followed by Karaikal (49), with Mahe and Yanam reprting one case each. Puducherry headquarters has the maximum active cases(1,385) followed by Karaikal (274), Mahe (59) and Yanam (4).

The territory did not report a Covid-19 death and the net toll remained at 1,882. The territory has so far reported 1. 31 lakh cases, of which 1. 27 lakh people have recovered, registering a recovery rate of 97. 3%.

Healthcare authorities have so far tested 20. 73 lakh samples,of which17. 61lakh samples returned negative. They have administered 14. 65 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine to the beneficiaries. The first dose has been given to 8. 85 lakh people, while 5. 8lakh people have received both the doses. On Monday, healthcareauthorities administered the first dose to 979 people and the second dose to 858 people.

 

ALL-INDIA TPR AT 4%

7 states in red with high fortnightly TPR

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Pradeep.Thakur@timesgroup.com

10.01.2022

New Delhi: The third wave of Covid may be here but not all states need to worry yet. Fortnightly Covid positivity rates or total confirmed cases per 100 tests measured over a 14day period (December 26-January 8) have gone up to 17% in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Goa, Mizoram, Punjab, Kerala and Delhi, but the situation in other parts of the country has not taken such a serious tur n.

The situation may be alarming in West Bengal where the pandemic has rapidly spread in thelast fortnight with the positivity rate going beyond 17%, much above the World Health Organisation’s red line of 5%,which acted as a threshold during the second wave, breaching which a state must set up containment zones under strict lockdown. At present, Tamil Nadu’s TPR stands at 8. 7%.

Significantly, each of these states, except Mizoram and Kerala, had positivity rates ho- vering around 1% in the previousfortnight (December 13-26). A TOI study found that while most other states and Union territories too witnessed a rapid increase in cases in the last two weeks, manyarestill out of danger and away from the WHO’s red line for the second wave.

All-India positivity rate over last fortnight has been around 4%

Unlike Delta variant which caused the second wave, Omicron has turned out to be less lethal, with the overwhelming majority of the infected not requiring hospitalisation.

The situation in the five poll bound states is a mixed one. While Goa (15%) and Punjab (6%) seem to be in need of immediate and stringent containment measures, the others are yet to reach that stage with positivity rates remaining below 2%, the lowest being in UP at less than 1%. Uttarakhand and Manipur have around 2%.

The all-India positivity rate over the last fortnight has been around 4%, though it is a massive spike from 0.5% in the previous 14-day period. Situations in many other states are quite similar with at least seven of them — Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Rajasthan — having positivity rates of around 3-4% during the fortnight ending January 8.

A high positivity rate is indicative of a state testing only the sickest and lacking in tracking and treatment measures. One reason why positivity rate has not flared up yet could also be because of the larger vaccination coverage with country last weak reaching the milestone of 150 crore doses.

Bihar, Odisha, Telangana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and J&K all have kept the positivity rate lower than 2%, so far.

During the peak of the second wave in April-May, Goa had the highest fortnightly positivity rate of 43%, followed by Karnataka 32%, West Bengal 30%, Kerala 27%, Uttarakhand 23% and 22% each in Himachal Pradesh, Andhra, Chandigarh and Rajasthan.

As on Sunday, the highest number of active Covid cases are in Maharashtra (1.7 lakh), West Bengal (62,055) and Delhi (48,178). Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala each have between 30,000 to 40,000 active cases while Gujarat and Jharkhand have over 21,000 cases each, UP has 18,551 cases and Rajasthan 14,000.

13k new cases push TN active caseload to 50k

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10.01.2022

Chennai accounted for about half of Tamil Nadu’s 12,895 new Covid cases while active cases in the state breached the 50,000-mark. Chennai district’s test positivity rate (TPR) jumped to 16. 6%, almost double the state’s average figure. Chengalpet (14%) and Tiruvallur (12. 5%) too registered high TPR. Health minister Ma Subramaniam said TN’s average Covid bed occupancy rate was around 7% and urged public to follow Covid rules and not panic. Meanwhile, a prediction by IIT Madras put the peak of the third wave between February1and15.

‘Peak of wave soon, but it may also ebb fast’ Global Data & Our Experience Reveal Omicron Is Mostly Asymptomatic Or Mild: NTAGI Chief

 

‘Peak of wave soon, but it may also ebb fast’

Global Data & Our Experience Reveal Omicron Is Mostly Asymptomatic Or Mild: NTAGI Chief

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Nisha.Nambiar@timesgroup.com

09.01.2022

Pune: National health experts feel that though Covid cases may peak in India very soon, the current wave driven by the Omicron variant of the virus may ebb equally fast.

“Global data and our own experience during the past five weeks reveal the infection caused by Omicron is mostly asymptomatic or mild. A few seriously ill hospitalized patients either had other co-morbidities and are over 60 years of age. The overall hospitalization rate for people affected by Omicron is 1-2%, which is much less to the rate of people requiring care in hospitals during the wave caused by Delta,” Dr N K Arora, chairman of the Covid-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization told TOI on Saturday.

“Over 80% of people in the country have been naturally infected by the virus. Over 91% adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while more than 66% people aged above 18 years have received both doses. Keeping all this in mind, the overall impact of the current surge is likely to be much less. There’s no need to panic. But we should remain vigilant and follow Covid protocols,” he said.

With India reporting 1. 41 lakh infections in 24 hours and active cases hovering around 4. 8 lakh, the expert said the surge was indicative of the third wave. “But just like the rise, a fall can also be expected in the areas reporting Omicron cases,” Dr Arora said.

More than 50% of the fresh Omicron cases are being reported from major Indian cities. Maharashtra is leading the tally, closely followed by West Bengal, Delhi, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Kerala and Gujarat. Dr Arora said most of the cases were asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, just as it was observed in South Africa.

Indian Council of Medi- cal Research (ICMR) additional director general Dr Samiran Panda told TOI that the active Covid curve would begin to flatten within three months in the areas recently registering the surge. “For this, people have to abide by Covid protocols and act appropriately. The projection we have generated through the modelling exercise shows that if Omicron is the dominant variant in an area, the surge will sharply go upwards and fall in three months,” he said.

“The metropolitan areas have Omicron as the major variant. But in areas such as the north-east, it is more the Delta variant that is causing stress on the health system. The country does not have a homogenous representation of the epidemic,” Dr Panda said.

Full report on www. toi. in

Low occupancy at hosps as most have mild symptoms

Low occupancy at hosps as most have mild symptoms

09.01.2022

Chennai: Though the city’s active cases are shooting up, only14 % of the hospital beds at the tertiary hospitals are occupied.

In case of ICU beds in the five Covid-19 hospitals in the city, only 6% (58 beds) of the 1,090 available ICU beds in the five Covid-19 hospitals are occupied. Of the 3,747 available oxygen oxygen beds,18% (699 beds) are occupied.

Doctors say this shows majority of the patients have not required oxygen support or ICU admission. Dean of Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital Dr E Theranirajan said, 231 patients were seen with an S-Gene drop, but none of them required ICU admission. “Most of the ICU admissions still seem to be from the Delta variant,” he said.

The doctors have found the majority of the patients who needed hospitalisation and ICU admissions, were the unvaccinated. “Of the 17 patients in the RGGGH ICU, 11 are unvaccinated. We have put some in C-PAP ventilators, treating them with Rem- desivir. These patients are also aged above 60 and have comorbidities,” said Dr Theranirajan.

Similarly, Dean of Omandurar GH Dr R Jayanthi said out of the 10 patients in the hospital’s ICU, eight were unvaccinated.

With 92% of the city's population vaccinated for the first dose, and 72%for the second dose, the corporation urges the unvaccinated and those due for second dose, to get their shots early.

“In the discussions we had with doctors in the city, it is seen that people vaccinated with both doses and are 50 days beyond second dose date, are having much milder symptoms, as compared to patients, who are either unvaccinated or with single dose,” corporation commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi told TOI. He said people must get both doses so that they preferably get immune to Covid and in case they contact the virus, the symptoms are milder. “More than 8 lakh people are due for a second dose in the city. They must take it as soon as possible,” he said .