Massive COVID Spike in India: What’s Behind the 1,200% Jump?

New Delhi: Kerala, Maharashtra, and Delhi are the states most affected by the most recent wave of COVID-19 cases, which now total over 3,000 active cases in India.

As of Saturday morning, there were 3,395 active coronavirus infections nationwide, up around 1,200 percent from the previous week, according to data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s official website. On May 22, there were 257 active cases in India; on May 26, there were 1,010.

According to the data, during Friday and Saturday, the nation reported 685 new coronavirus cases and four fatalities.

States with the worst Covid-Hit

The data shows that Kerala, the most affected state in India, had 1,336 ongoing infections and reported 189 new Covid cases on Friday.

Delhi (375), Gujarat (265), Karnataka (234), West Bengal (205), Tamil Nadu (185), Uttar Pradesh (117), and Maharashtra (467) come next.

Other states experiencing an increase in COVID cases include Madhya Pradesh (16), Andhra Pradesh (17), Haryana (26), Rajasthan (60), and Puducherry (41).

Additionally, the data revealed that 26 deaths have been reported in India this year.

Related Article – Traveling During India’s COVID Surge? Key Tips to Stay Safe

What’s Causing India’s COVID-19 Surge?

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the new variants are sub-variants of Omicron, a strain that caused the significant Covid wave in India in 2022, according to genome sequencing of samples from the west and south.

Dr. Rajiv Behl, the head of ICMR, stated on Monday that these are LF.7, XFG, JN.1, and NB.1.8.1.

According to Dr. Behl, the first three are more common.

Additionally, he acknowledged that COVID-19 instances had increased, initially from southern India and then from western India and now from northern India.

According to Dr. Behl, the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) is keeping an eye on all of these instances.

“Nothing To Worry About”

According to Dr. Behl, there is currently no need for concern because the infections are usually moderate in severity.

“Whenever cases increase, we look at three things. It’s dependent on three factors, with the first being how transmissible it is, conversely how fast the cases are increasing. Previously, we saw COVID-19 cases double in two days, but this time it is not that cases are increasing rapidly,” The news agency PTI cited him as saying.

“Secondly, are the new variants evading our previous immunity? When new variants come, they evade immunity — be it natural or from the vaccine. But there’s nothing to worry about at the moment,” Dr Bhel said.

The third aspect, he added, is the proportion of severe cases across all Covid cases.

“Are we getting a very severe disease without comorbidities? As of now, the severity is generally low. There’s nothing to worry about. We should be vigilant and we should always be prepared,” he added.

WHO’s Remarks Regarding the Covid Surge

The LF.7 and NB.1.8.1 subvariants were categorized as “Variants Under Monitoring” by the World Health Organization (WHO) last month.

“Despite a concurrent increase in cases and hospitalisations in some countries where NB.1.8.1 is widespread, current data do not indicate that this variant leads to more severe illness than other variants in circulation,” the World Health Organization stated on May 23.

It is anticipated that currently licensed Covid vaccinations will “remain effective to this variant against symptomatic and severe disease,” according to the UN health agency.

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