China is brawling with a surge in the number of new Covid-19 cases. On December 20, China reported no new Covid-19-related deaths but, reported 3,101 new symptomatic Covid-19 infections- as compared with 2,722 cases a day earlier. A total of 3,049 new local cases were recorded – 393 more as compared to 2,656 infections on December 19. Currently, mainland China has confirmed a total of 386,276 cases with symptoms. According to the National Health Commission, China’s total number of fatalities due to coronavirus stands at 5,241.
China’s Covid surge has blown red alarm in India. Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya on December 21, i.e, today held a high-level review meeting with top officials and experts to chalk out the strategy to prevent another spike in cases. The meeting came out with the decision to send samples of all Covid positive cases, daily to genome sequencing labs mapped with all states and Union Territories. It has also asked state governments to step up efforts to curb any possible spread during the Christmas and New Year festivities.
However, experts have said that the rising infection rate might not be an immediate threat to India though they asserted the need to step up surveillance. Top government scientists at NTAGI, INSACOG and National Institute of Virology said that covid cases are fewer in India and that the country is in a comfortable position due to extensive vaccination and herd immunity in the population.
In a letter to all states, federal health secretary Shri Rajesh Bhushan said it was important to track new variants through genome sequencing due to the “sudden spurt of cases being witnessed in Japan, United States of America, Republic of Korea, Brazil and China”. According to government data, the country reports roughly 1,200 Covid cases every week. Over 2.2 billion Covid vaccine doses have been administered so far.
