Pakistan sees most COVID-19 cases in two months; concern about omicron

NEW DELHI: Indian well being authorities Monday started vaccinating teenagers within the age group of 15 to 18, as extra states began to implement tighter restrictions to arrest a brand new surge stoked by the infectious omicron variant.
State governments throughout India administered doses at faculties, hospitals and thru particular vaccination websites amid a fast rise in coronavirus infections, notably within the nation’s densely populated cities.
Information from the well being ministry confirmed India confirmed over 33,000 new COVID-19 circumstances within the final 24 hours. Deaths elevated by 123, bringing the entire to just about 482,000.
Authorities are saying that whilst circumstances have began to rise quickly, hospitalizations haven’t gone up.
“There is no such thing as a must panic,” Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, stated Sunday.
India has to this point recorded virtually 35 million COVID-19 infections.
The present surge in circumstances, together with these of the omicron variant, is essentially concentrated in India’s massive cities like Delhi and the monetary capital Mumbai. The nation has reported greater than 1,700 omicron circumstances, with the very best variety of infections within the western state of Maharashtra.
Many states have imposed new restrictions, together with night time curfews, limiting seating in bars and eating places, and banning giant public gatherings. The most recent to implement such restrictions was the state of West Bengal the place authorities Sunday closed all faculties and faculties.
India skilled a devastating surge of infections in April and Might final yr when greater than 400,000 circumstances have been recorded each day on the peak of the disaster. That surge was primarily pushed by the delta variant and overwhelmed the nation’s well being care system as hospitals ran out of beds and medical oxygen.
Well being consultants say the nation is unlikely to witness such scenes this time due to a extra vaccinated inhabitants however warn the surge in circumstances as a result of extremely transmissible omicron variant might as soon as once more pressure the well being system.
India has to this point partially vaccinated virtually 90 p.c of its eligible inhabitants and almost 64 p.c have obtained each doses. The federal government is but to resolve on providing booster pictures for adults.
Well being consultants are, nevertheless, apprehensive as India’s Election Fee final week allowed legislative elections early this yr to go forward as deliberate in Uttar Pradesh state, the nation’s most populous with over 200 million folks, elevating fears that the infections might unfold unchecked.
In latest weeks, political leaders together with Prime Minister Narendra Modi have visited the state, main rallies and delivering speeches to packed crowds. The photographs have intensified considerations, bringing again recollections of the final yr’s surge, as political events led mass rallies as infections soared all through the nation.