New Delhi: The coronavirus cases are on the rise in several states of India. The country on Thursday (December 21), recorded 594 fresh COVID-19 infections while the number of active cases increased to 2,669 from 2,311 the previous day, according to the Union health ministry. The country’s COVID-19 tally currently stands at 4.50 crore (4,50,06,572). The death toll climbed to 5,33,327 with six more people – three from Kerala, two from Karnataka and one from Punjab, succumbing to the viral disease.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,44,70,576. The national recovery rate stands at 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry’s website and the case fatality rate stands at 1.19 per cent.
Also Read: 21 Cases Of Covid Sub-Variant JN.1 Found In Three States, Says NITI Aayog Member V K Paul
Kerala
The state logged 300 new active cases, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The total number of active cases of Covid-19 in the country stood at 2,669. Amid the rising concerns over the emergence of the new variant of the Coronavirus, state health experts said that Covid is like any other communicable disease that cannot be wiped out completely adding that the strike rate of the disease has come down. Dr Sreejith N Kumar, said,
“Covid is just like any other communicable disease that cannot be wiped out completely. However, the severity of the disease has come down, and the mortality that means the people who succumbed to the disease is not as high as what it used to be. It is now just like any other influenza or any other common cold.”
Rajasthan
Amid the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country, Rajasthan has reported two fresh cases, according to the Additional Director of Health, Ravi Prakash Sharma. Two COVID-19-positive were found respectively in Sawai Man Singh Hospital and JK Lone Hospital in Jaipur. Both the patients came to Jaipur from other districts for treatment. One patient is said to be from Bharatpur and the other from Jhunjhunu, the Additional Director of Health confirmed.
West Bengal
The West Bengal Health Department has not reported any Covid cases, but the department will continue its surveillance of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) cases, in accordance with central guidelines, amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the country, a senior official from the department said.
Maharashtra
A 41-year-old man has tested positive for new COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra, said health department officials. As per preliminary information, the patient is from Dodamarg taluka in the coastal district in the Konkan region and has mild symptoms of the infectious disease, they said. No further details were available about the patient.
Haryana
Haryana has not recorded any coronavirus cases as of now, but the state Health Minister Anil Vij said that RT-PCR tests will be conducted for Influenza-like Illnesses and Severe Acute Respiratory Infections despite there being no COVID-19 cases in the state at present.
Also Read: Uttarakhand Issues Advisory To Adhere To Covid Prevention Guidelines
Meanwhile, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in India and the preparedness of the public health system for surveillance, containment and management of COVID-19 given the recent spike in cases of COVID-19 in some states.
During the meeting, Dr Mandaviya emphasised the importance of being alert and prepared against new and emerging strains of the COVID-19 virus. Dr Mandaviya said,
It is important to be alert and prepared against new and emerging strains of the COVID-19 virus.
The Union Health Minister urged all the states to remain alert, increase surveillance and ensure an adequate stock of medicines, oxygen cylinders and concentrators, ventilators and vaccines. Reiterating the need for joint efforts between the Centre and States to ensure efficient management of COVID-19, Dr Mandaviya said,
Let us undertake mock drills once every three months at both the central and state levels and share best practices.
He also urged states to create awareness, manage the epidemic, and ensure the dissemination of factually correct information.
In the wake of the surge in respiratory diseases and the new JN.1 COVID sub-variant, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the virus is evolving and changing and urged the member states to continue with strong surveillance and sequence sharing.
Also Read: 292 Fresh COVID-19 Cases, Three Deaths In Kerala
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. 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 a world post 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 well-being, 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.
