Even by conservative assumptions that 5 to 10 per cent of infected individuals develop long Covid, India today may be home to 50 to 100 million infected individuals -- many silently coping with breathlessness, fatigue, palpitations, brain fog, or unexplained clotting tendencies.
"China has always been publishing information on COVID-19 deaths and severe cases in the spirit of openness and transparency," Jiao Yahui, head of the Bureau of Medical Administration under the National Health Commission, said at a press briefing held.
Given the recurring outbreaks in the last five years, the government is considering domestic manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies for treating Nipah virus infections and is in talks with Serum Institute of India, report Shine Jacob and Sohini Das.
Covishield comprises over 90 pc of 12.76 cr COVID vaccines administered so far
Three COVID-19 vaccine candidates, including two indigenous ones, are in different phases of development in India.
Head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at Indian Council of Medical Research Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar said 80 out of 100 infected people do not show any symptoms.
'The ICMR and Biological E Limited, Hyderabad, have developed highly purified antisera (raised in animals) for prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-19,' the apex health research body said on Thursday. The 'antisera' is yet to undergo human clinical trials to establish its safety and efficacy and Drugs Controller General of India would be approached soon in this regard, Dr Samiran Panda, the head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at the ICMR said.
At the same, it said the latest figures do not establish a clear trend and in no way the government is relaxed about anything at this point.
The percentage of patients with serious infections had halved from previous admissions.
The comments come as the country's COVID-19 caseload surpassed the one crore mark, though the number of daily cases and daily fatalities have been continuously coming down.
Easing restrictions, all private hospitals were on Tuesday allowed to give the vaccines if they adhere to the laid down norms, while the 9 am to 5 pm timing was also done away with.
Experts said the strain has not propelled a surge in cases like Omicron, but advised strict adherence to COVID-19-appropriate behaviour.
The interim findings of the trial in which the four drugs were tested in 405 hospitals across 30 countries, covering 11,266 adults, were released on 'medRxiv', a preprint server, on Thursday. The findings are under review for publication in a medical journal.
'We have the technical expertise, and international collaborations. We also have robust real-time data. We are a university of pandemic management. If the ministry neglects the role of NCDC, it is the loss of the country'
During a briefing on the COVID-19 situation, joint secretary in the ministry Lav Agarwal also said about 2.94 per cent of the active COVID-19 cases needed oxygen support, 3 per cent needed intensive care units (ICU) and 0.45 per cent required ventilator support.
Head of Epidemiology and Communicable diseases at the ICMR Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar said the apex health research body will begin a study on the effectiveness of the vaccine against coronavirus infection next week.
These testing kits will be used for surveillance and to monitor whether coronavirus hotspots in the country are increasing or decreasing.
'There is no data to show this virus is more deadlier.'
The country has been registering over 70,000 cases for the last four days.
Agarwal said that the current 'R0' or R naught for the coronavirus infection is somewhere between 1.5 and 4.
"Rigorous contact tracing is on across the 17 states which have reported cases related to Tablighi Jamaat congregation," the health ministry official said.
Joint secretary in the ministry Lav Agarwal said 149 new COVID-19 cases, including two deaths, have been reported since Friday. Combined efforts are on to ensure 100 per cent lockdown and that social distancing gets implemented, he said at a press briefing on the current COVID-19 situation in India.
Addressing a press briefing, Health Ministry's Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said the government has taken early preemptive action to identify COVID-19 hotspots in the country.
President Ram Nath Kovind presented Padma awards to 73 individuals, some posthumously, at a ceremony held in the Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Monday.
Addressing a daily media briefing to give updates on the COVID-19 situation in the country, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said most of the Markaz event-related cases have been found in states with high burden of the disease, such as Tamil Nadu (84 per cent), Telengana (79 per cent), Delhi (63 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (59 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (61 per cent).
Joint Secretary in the health ministry Lav Agarwal said 154 new positive cases of the disease have been reported due to the transit-related history of those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation. These include 23 new cases from Jammu and Kashmir, 20 from Telengana, 18 from Delhi, 65 from Tamil Nadu, 17 from Andhra Pradesh, nine from Andaman and Nicobar Islands and two from Puducherry.
At present only government labs are permitted to do the test and the Centre is making arrangements to nearly double its capacity to test for the respiratory ailment. According to Health Ministry officials, around 60 accredited private laboratories are likely to be given permission to conduct the tests soon.
'If done well, the containment measures can help minimise the impact of the epidemic.'
Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal claimed that India has been doing better than many other countries on the outcome ratio, which is the number of recoveries from coronavirus infection versus the number of deaths.
The new lineage called B.1.618 is distinct from the B.1.617, also known as the 'double mutant' virus that contains two mutations, E484Q and L245R, and is believed to be behind the powerful second COVID-19 wave sweeping through India.
There had been few signs of social distancing as thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana began their protest last week against the three new agro-marketing laws, setting off on a march to the national capital.
Rejecting the Centre's offer to hold talks once they move to the Burari ground, the farmers protesting against the new agricultural reform laws have been staying put at Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur borders.
"We have received complaint from a state yesterday and so far discussed with three states. Too much variations have been reported in results of rapid test kits and RT-PCR kits. We advise states not to use them for the next two days," ICMR's Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar said.
In its daily briefing, the government also reported Goa is now free of coronavirus.
People have developed a fatalistic attitude where they believe that anything can happen. They think, 'there's no medicine, no beds in the hospitals, what are we alive for?' And when you get that kind of an attitude, you stop taking precautions
Addressing the daily press briefing on the actions taken, preparedness and updates on COVID-19, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health Lav Agarwal said 92 new cases and four deaths due to coronavirus have been reported in India since Sunday, taking total cases to 1,071 and the number of deaths to 29.
'...If people follow the lockdown well.'
Talking about the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, Agarwal said, "If the Tablighi Jamaat incident had not taken place and we compare the rate of doubling -- that is in how many days the cases have doubled, we will see that currently it is 4.1 days (including Jamaat cases) and if the incident had not taken place and additional cases had not come then the doubling rate would have been 7.4 days."
The govt said that states have been asked to classify districts which have reported a higher number of cases as hotspots, the districts where cases have been reported as non-hotspots, and green zones where no cases have been reported.
Alleging that the candidate vaccine was not safe, he has also sought cancelling approval for its testing, 'manufacture and distribution', failing which legal action would be taken.
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