A child wears a face mask while at a government hospital in Chennai, since a rise in Covid-19 cases. (Image: R Satish Babu/AFP)
A new variant, XBB.1.16, could be the reason behind the surge, according to virologists and epidemiologists.
A total of 5,335 Covid-19 cases were in the last 24 hours till 8am on Thursday, as per the official data from the Union Health Ministry. It was 20% higher than the total number of cases reported on April 5 and marked the highest daily surge since September 2022.
The weekly positivity rate now stands at 2.89%, whereas the daily positivity rate is 3.32%. A higher positivity rate indicates a rise in the number of cases. Positivity rate is decided on the number of samples turning positive out of the total number of tests conducted for Covid-19 in a given period of time.
According to the Health Ministry’s official website, a total of 2.2 billion Covid vaccination doses have been administered so far. Despite people being vaccinated on a large scale the Covid-19 cases are on a rise due to the mutations of the virus.
According to experts, the cases could be increasing as still a large section of people are yet to take the booster doses.
“Vaccinations only lower the risk of complications which may arise in exposed individuals. It is still possible to get Covid-19 and spread it to others after being vaccinated, so continue to do everything you can to keep yourself healthy,” Dr Ravi Shekhar Jha, director and head of pulmonology, at Fortis Hospitals told The Indian Express.
Even among those who have received vaccine shots, the virus is still evolving and spreading in the form of new variants. These variants could be more contagious or more resistant to current vaccines, which would increase the number of instances.
A new variant, XBB.1.16, could be the reason behind the surge, DW reported citing virologists and epidemiologists.
Srinath Reddy, former president of the Public Health Foundation of India, told DW, “New variants will keep coming as the virus keeps on mutating over time and the XBB 1.16 variant is a new strain. These are all from the omicron family, with higher infectivity and lower virulence.”
Recently several states such as Kerala, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra have issued public notices making masks mandatory in their respective states and appealed to people to take preventive measures.
