States step up vigil as two more suspected monkeypox cases surface

Two suspected monkeypox cases surfaced in India on Wednesday even as the test results were awaited. A woman from Noida, Uttar Pradesh showed symptoms of the viral zoonosis and is currently under home isolation, whereas a male patient with suspected monkeypox symptoms was admitted to the Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Narayan Hospital. The samples of the suspected cases have been sent to Lucknow and Pune respectively to ascertain the infection.

The viral zoonotic infection, declared as global health emergency, has so far infected over 18,000 people across 78 countries.

As of now, four confirmed monkeypox cases (three in Kerala and one in Delhi) have been reported in India.

The Centre has already issued guidelines for management of monkeypox disease, which currently doesn't have a treatment. Also, the States, individually are gearing up their preparedness to tackle the new health emergency.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has reportedly asked its administration to take extra caution and take preventive measures as advised by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Government of India in their respective advisories. Also, each of the covid hospitals operational in the State would be required to keep 10 beds spare for monkeypox patients as part of preparedness. The Delhi government has directed its hospitals and revenue districts to follow the Central guidelines for the outbreak.

Maharashtra too has made necessary arrangements to tackle the outbreak and the State has been put on alert, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde reportedly said.

However, experts say there is no cause for panic.

Measures in Gujarat

As a precautionary step, the Gujarat government has started spreading awareness about the symptoms and preventive measures against monkeypox infection. Even though, there is no reported case of monkeypox currently, the State Health Department is well-prepared to tackle it, a State government communique said.

Meanwhile, India's Covid cases continued to surge with 18,313 new cases and 57 deaths being reported in the past 24 hours across the country. Total active cases in the country now stood at 1,45,026, while 20,742 recoveries were reported in the last 24 hours. As per the Health Ministry data, the daily positivity rate stood at 4.31 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate stood at 4.57 per cent. Total 4,25,337 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, the health ministry statement said.