No need to panic: Experts as Covid deaths cross 100

Hindustan Times

5 hours ago

With 11 new deaths reported in the past 24 hours, the total number of Covid-19 deaths in the current surge reached 108 on Monday, government data show, although experts insist that there is no need to panic, pointing to the fact that the proportion of fatalities among those testing positive for the respiratory viral infection is under 1% (0.79%).
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They add that almost all of the deaths are in hospitalised patients who were either undergoing treatment for, or had a past history of, severe comorbidities. The 11 new deaths, for example, includes patients who suffered from a range of medical conditions including lung cancer, acute kidney injury, leukaemia, and cirrhosis of the liver.
'The number of cases may have seen a slight surge in the past few weeks, but we are keeping an eye on the rate of hospitalisation and death, which is low across the country. Most of the deaths are in people who were hospitalised for some chronic or acute condition that may not be directly related to Covid-19, but as a protocol gets documented as Covid death,' said a senior government official, requesting anonymity.
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According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a Covid-19 associated hospitalisation is defined as admission as an inpatient for a length of over 12 hours of time, or overnight for the reasons directly related to Covid-19. In addition, a Covid-19 death is defined for surveillance purposes as a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness in a probable or confirmed Covid-19 case unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to Covid-19 disease (e.g. trauma). There should be no period of complete recovery between illness and death.
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'The government is closely monitoring the situation, and so far, there is nothing to be alarmed about. However, one needs to be vigilant and follow the dos and don'ts issued as a measure of abundant precaution especially for the high-risk population,' added the official.
According to government data, since January 1, 2025, 13,604 Covid-19 positive cases have been reported from across the country and 108 deaths. Currently, there are 7264 active cases in India, and according to the official cited above, most of these are mild and under home care.
While INSACOG (Indian Sars-Cov-2 Genomics Consortium) that is mandated to issue a weekly bulletin on circulating variants of Sars-Cov-2— the virus that causes Covid-19— has not updated the bulletin since May 15 on its website, people familiar with the matter said the variant largely in circulation currently remains NB.1.8.1.
NB.1.8.1, also known as Nimbus, first detected in a sample collected on January 22, 2025, is a descendant of the XDV.1.5.1 lineage, which itself descended from JN.1, a lineage of the Omicron variant BA.2.86.
The variant carries six additional spike mutations that could affect its behaviour. Notably, mutations at position 445 may enhance binding to the hACE2 receptor, potentially increasing transmissibility. Meanwhile, changes at positions 435 and 478 could help the variant evade certain antibodies.WHO has labelled it as a variant under monitoring and assessed its global health risk as low, despite rising cases in several countries. While there is slight advantage in immune evasion, but the current data do not indicate that this variant leads to more severe illness than other variants in circulation, it noted.
In its epidemiological update on the variant, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said, 'While there are no epidemiological studies assessing transmissibility of NB.1.8.1 relative to other circulating strains, a very limited number of available laboratory studies are informative, with two studies assessing in vitro infectivity showing lower infectivity of NB.1.8.1 versus LP.8.1 and XEC, previously dominant Omicron variants…'
Like in other countries, in India also NB.1.8.1 has shown increased prevalence since mid-April. Along with it, the other variants in circulation are LF.7, and XFG that are all descendants of the Omicron variant.
According to WHO, currently approved Covid-19 vaccines are expected to remain effective to this variant against symptomatic and severe disease.
However, there is still no decision made at the government level to introduce further booster doses.
According to the official cited above, there may not be a decision taken any time soon on the vaccines given the low hospitalisation and death rate. 'It has been well-established that vaccines prevent severe disease and death, and the numbers clearly show there is no alarming increase in both. Therefore, no urgent requirement. That aside, it's a fluid situation and decisions may be taken or modified based on the situation later.'