Mumbai: After Maharashtra saw a 17.7 per cent rises in coronavirus cases compared to last week, the state health department on Monday cited the XBB variant, found for the first time in the country, could further spike in cases ahead of the festive and winter season in the country. A health official department bulletin said the XBB variant reported in the state had a “growth advantage over BA.2.75 and immune evasive property”. The BA.2.3.20 and BQ.1 variants have also been detected in the state, a first for the country, it added.
It said new COVID-19 cases rose by 17.17 per cent in the October 10-16 period when compared to last week between October 3 and 9, with the rise being noticed particularly in densely-populated Thane, Raigad, and Mumbai.
“Some experts are predicting a rise (in cases) in the coming winter season, especially in festive environs,” the bulletin cautioned.
It said the proportion of BA.2.75, an Omicron sub-variant, among cases detected had decreased from 95 per cent to 76 per cent.
The state health department said people must not ignore flu-like symptoms and should get medical advice at the earliest.
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NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
