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India’s Covid count surged to over 90,928 on Thursday, a jump of 56 per cent over the previous day’s 58,097 infections. With the daily positivity rate rising to 6.43 per cent and a number of doctors and health workers across the country contracting the infection, a winding down of events, and curbs on movement and economic activity were stepped up.
The flagship Vibrant Gujarat summit and the international kite festival were cancelled while Health Ministry officials and top medical officers consulted with the Election Commission over the upcoming Assembly elections in five States including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.
In Punjab, 125 arriving on a Milan-Amritsar charter flight were found Covid-19 positive. “In today’s flight, all 125 passenger who tested positive are being attended by State health officials,” Amritsar Airport Authority said on its twitter handle.
Infection spreading among health workers is becoming a cause of concern with Mumbai reporting 220 doctors turning positive in the last three days.
Delhi recorded a massive uptick in Covid cases at 15,097 (from 10,665 the previous day) with eight fatalities. The positivity rate in Delhi has surged to 15 per cent in just a month and a half. Maharashtra registered 26,538 cases with eight fatalities. West Bengal reported a 49 per cent rise in the daily Covid cases at 14,022.
The Omicron tally in the country stood at 2,630 with the majority of the infections in Maharashtra at 797 followed by Delhi (465) and Rajasthan (236).
Health workers infected
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya visited the infected healthcare workers admitted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
Maharashtra Medical Education Minister Anil Deshmukh warned that the situation could turn “challenging” and the government may have to hire contract workers if the health workers keep getting infected. This was after at least 220 resident doctors at government hospitals in Mumbai, including King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, and R N Cooper Hospital, tested positive in the last three days. Maharashtra has asked police personnel above 55 to work from home.
The Centre wrote to the States/UTs to set up District/Sub-District level Control Rooms for Covid management. “The control rooms shall be adequately staffed with medical doctors, counsellors and volunteers, among others, and shall be equipped with ample phone lines to cater to the assigned population,” said Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan in the letter to the States.
Vaccination pace
India vaccinated nearly 88 lakh beneficiaries till 7 pm on Thursday, taking the total inoculations done so far to 149.60 crore. According to the Health Ministry, while 66 per cent of the adult population is fully vaccinated, 91 per cent has received at least one dose. Also, more than 17 per cent of the 15-18-year set, at 1.64 crore, have been given the first dose.
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