Why Covid surge in China is a global concern? Know India’s response

• Lifting zero-Covid curb may lead to 2 million deaths in China
• Union Health Minister asks Rahul Gandhi to postpone Bharat Jodo Yatra if Covid norms can’t be followed
• There is no reason to panic at all. However, it will be wise to step up genomic surveillance to identify newer variants: NTAGI chief

When coronavirus broke out in China in late 2019, the Indian government initially played down its seriousness. This is also because of approach of China’s opaqueness due to which rest of the world remained ignorant of the impending pandemic. Three years later, the communist nation is again not sharing exact information about the situation, triggering global concern.

Current situation and global concerns

China in the past few weeks witnessed over a million deaths in the coming months, even though official figures presented a very different picture. The country reported five deaths for Monday and two for Sunday, according to a Reuters report, taking its total death count to 5,242. On Monday, the country reported about 2,700 new cases, lower than the nearly 40,000 cases that were being reported a couple of weeks ago. However, several media reports suggested that the situation was far more serious. Commenting on the communist nation’s approach to tackle the situation, the Washington Post wrote that the “zero-covid policy” was “unsustainable”. “The absence of a coherent fallback strategy threatens a fresh set of nightmares for its population… A new crisis could shake the whole world. As the Wuhan outbreak demonstrated three years ago, what begins in China does not necessarily stay there,” wrote the paper. The dominant virus strain in China is BF.7, a sub-variant of Omicron that has been in circulation for over a year now. There are over 500 Omicron sub-variants currently in circulation. It accounted for over 5 per cent of the cases in the US in October and over 7 per cent of the cases in the UK.

Lifting ‘zero-Covid’ curb may cause 2 million deaths, 60% to be infected  

China has nearly 1.4 billion people. With the rapid spread of infections, the country’s 60 per cent people are at risk. According to epidemiologist, more than 60 per cent of China and 10 per cent of Earth’s population are likely to be infected over the next 90 days with deaths likely in the millions.

It is also said that China’s absurd end to its ‘zero-Covid’ policy has raised concerns of the widespread infections among the vulnerable population. News analysis by various modeling groups predict the reopening of could results in as many as 2.1 million deaths and 233 million new infections. On Monday, the country reported 5,242 Covid-related deaths.  While Covid deaths in China are hugely underreported, crematoriums in the country are flooded with bodies. According to a report of Wall Street Journal, one of Beijing’s designated crematoria for Covid-19 patients has been flooded with dead bodies in recent days as the virus sweeps through the Chinese capital, offering an early hint at the human cost of the country’s abrupt loosening of pandemic restrictions.

India put states on alert

The Union health ministry directed all states to conduct genome sequencing of positive cases to check for any new variant. Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya is set to hold a review meeting on Wednesday amid rising cases in other countries. According to Hindustan Times, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in a letter to additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries and state health secretaries, said it is “essential” to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track the variants through Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (Insacog) network. “Such an exercise will enable timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country and will facilitate undertaking of requisite public health measures for the same,” he said.

Increase genome sequencing 

India has asked all states and union territories to increase genome sequencing of positive cases to track variants through the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network. The INSACOG network is a consortium of over 50 laboratories to keep a check on genomic variations in the COVID-19 virus. India reported 112 new cases on Tuesday, while active cases fell to 3,490, as per the Health Ministry’s data. The Union Health Secretary’s letter said that the public health challenge of COVID-19 still persists globally, with around 35 lakh cases reported weekly.

No cause for panic, says India NTAGI chief

Chairman of the Covid-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization Dr NK Arora said there is no cause of worry over the outbreak in China, underscoring that India has an advantage with hybrid immunity on account of widespread natural infection and vaccination. Meanwhile, Dr Randeep Guleria, former director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in an interview yesterday said India might not see a similar situation owing to a high rate of natural infection and vaccine coverage. India has been able to restrict the transmission with its focus on a five-fold strategy of test-track-treat-vaccinate and adherence to COVID-appropriate behavior. India currently sees around 1,200 new cases on a weekly basis, it read.

 ‘Postpone Bharat Jodo Yatra’

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot regarding Covid norms in the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. In the letter, the Union Health Minister also requested that if following COVID protocol is not possible then the Bharat Jodo Yatra be postponed in the national interest, taking note of public health emergency. “Only vaccinated people should participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Follow covid rules or suspend yatra,” read the letter.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM