COVID Cases Up By 6 Times In Just 9 Days: Why It's Crucial To Steer Clear Of The Wave Now

India reported 58,097 new Covid-19 cases and 534 deaths in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Wednesday. With 15,389 recoveries, the active cases in the country stood at 2,14,004. A total of 2,135 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected in the country so far.

There is more than one reason for us to get cautious and revisit our old ways of protecting ourselves.

Watch who you meet, where and how: Here's why

Alarming growth rate

The country reported some 9,000 cases on December 28, so the count has now gone up more than six times in just nine days. India has 2,135 cases of the Omicron variant - the most in Maharashtra with 653 cases, followed by Delhi with 464 cases.

India Times

On December 30, 2021, the number of cases reported stood at 13,154 and only in the next two days, i.e on January 1, 2022, the number of cases jumped to almost double at 22,775. The spike was attributed to New Year's celebrations and large gatherings people became a part of to ring in 2022.

Only 4 days later, on January 5, 2022, the number of cases stand at 58,097, triple the amount of cases at the start of the year. Imagine, if this is just the start, what the coming months might look like.

WHO's warning

Soaring Omicron cases around the world could increase the risk of a newer, more dangerous variant emerging, the World Health Organisation, or WHO, said yesterday. While the variant is spreading like wildfire around the world, it appears to be far less severe than initially feared and has raised hopes that the pandemic could be overcome and life return to more normality, the WHO has said.

WHO

But WHO senior emergencies officer Catherine Smallwood sounded an ominous note of caution, telling news agency AFP that the soaring infection rates could have the opposite effect. "The more Omicron spreads, the more it transmits and the more it replicates, the more likely it is to throw out a new variant. Now, Omicron is lethal, it can cause death... maybe a little bit less than Delta, but who's to say what the next variant might throw out," Ms Smallwood said.

Covid protocols down the drain

Owing to the festivities and the wedding season, many people have forgotten the existence of Covid. Majority of the population in India have learnt to co-exist with the virus, but that doesn't mean it's gone. It's very much there and only growing.

Remember to wash hands, maintain social distancing, avoid stepping out unnecessarily and most importantly, wear masks. Avoid public places, go virtual.

File Photo

How are metro cities faring?

In the wake of surging Covid cases, Delhi became the first major metro to impose a weekend curfew. Officials said that all services, except shops selling essential items such as groceries, will be shut over the weekend. And the earlier curbs on public transport, whereby the permitted occupancy was restricted to 50 per cent of total seats, has been removed.

With Covid cases rising in the city, the Mumbai civic body has made rapid RT-PCR test mandatory for all international passengers landing at the international airport, as per revised guidelines. But health officials in the city are faced with another big crisis ¡ª amid a surge in demand for at-home antigen testing kits, they fear that many positive cases are going unreported.

PTI

The Karnataka government has also imposed a weekend curfew and has extended the night curfew for two weeks in the state. The government also decided to shut schools and pre-university colleges except for 10th and 12th standard students for two weeks.

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