Veroli Zhimo
The past few days have seen a gradual rise in COVID-19 cases in Nagaland, with the steady detection of new cases since July 1. In the last 11 days, a total of 43 cases have been recorded in the state including 4 on Monday. One person succumbed to the disease on July 8.
Across the rest of the country, cases have been spiking consistently since early June.
With 4,283 new cases of COVID-19 reported across India on June 3, the country saw the biggest single-day spike in infections in at least 80 days even as fears emerged that the outbreak is again starting to rise in a handful of urban centres across the country.
At the time, explaining the cause of the sudden surge in the cases, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria said non-adherence to COVID-appropriate behaviour and people being unenthusiastic about getting the booster dose are possibly making them more susceptible to infection. However, there is no need to be panicked as the number of serious cases is still low, he further added.
The AIIMS chief had said, although there is a rise in the number of cases, there is no associated increase in hospitalisation or deaths. “So the rise in the number of cases is not a cause of worry at the moment.”
Echoing similar views, Dr NK Arora, chairperson of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), noted that there was “no need to panic.” He however reminded that COVID is out there—evolving, infecting and claiming lives and we need to adhere to COVID-appropriate behaviour and particularly, avoid crowded places and also make masks an integral part of our day-to-day living.
On the other hand, the numbers have been increasing as the country reported 16,678 new infections on Monday.
Along with this, scientists across the world have noted that the quick changing coronavirus has spawned yet another super contagious omicron mutant that is gaining ground in India and popping up in numerous other countries, including the United States, according to a report published by the Associated Press (AP) on Monday.
“It’s still really early on for us to draw too many conclusions,” said Matthew Binnicker, director of clinical virology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “But it does look like, especially in India, the rates of transmission are showing kind of that exponential increase.” Whether it will outcompete the globally prominent BA.5 is yet to be determined, he told the AP.
Whether this new surge in cases qualify as a new wave or not, given the advances in medical understanding of the virus, along with the growing availability and efficacy of COVID vaccines, the world is now far better prepared to take on COVID. However, in view of the volatile global health scenario, at the local level, it remains vital that we do not take the virus, or our health, for granted and continue to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour.
We would like to return to pre-pandemic life, but we also need to accept that we are now living with a higher level of risk than we used to.
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