Indian doctors urge vigilance as COVID-19 cases rise
NEW DELHI: Indian doctors are calling for vigilance over a recent rise in COVID-19 cases in the country, as a new wave of infections is spreading in parts of Asia, especially Hong Kong and Singapore.
The new spread of the virus that a few years ago brought the world to a standstill has been linked to JN.1, a highly transmissible subvariant of the Omicron strain of the COVID-19 virus. It emerged in late 2023 and spread globally through early 2024, becoming one of the dominant variants in many countries.
As COVID-19 cases surged in Southeast and East Asia, India's health authorities held an expert meeting on Monday.
It concluded that 'the current COVID-19 situation in India remains under control,' as the Ministry of Health reported only 257 active COVID-19 cases nationwide and 'almost all of these cases are mild, with no hospitalization required,' officials told the Press Trust of India.
Kerala has recorded the highest infection numbers, followed by Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.
The actual number of cases, however, was likely to be much higher, as coronavirus testing is not being conducted regularly.
'What we have is called multiplex PCR, which tests for multiple organisms, including COVID. That's why we are catching these patients,' Dr. Atul Kakar, of Internal Medicine at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi, told Arab News.
'All these cases which we have seen, they are like a normal viral infection itself … We need to be vigilant, but it's not to create panic.'
In 2021, India was one of the worst-hit countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. At its peak, health authorities recorded over 400,000 new cases per day.
Hospitals across many states were overwhelmed with patients and faced severe shortages of oxygen supplies, hospital beds, ventilators, and critical medicines.
The World Health Organization estimates that 4.7 million deaths in India were directly and indirectly related to COVID-19.
While the prevalent virus variant behind the current spike in Asia spreads quickly, the type of infection seen in India appears to be showing that it is less severe than the one that wreaked havoc in 2021.
'Fortunately, it is mostly an upper respiratory infection. Only people with immunodeficiency, severe comorbid disease, old age, on steroids, on cancer therapy will have more severe disease,' Dr. Jacob John, renowned virologist and retired professor at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, told Arab News.
'We always have to be alert about all respiratory infections ... particularly senior citizens or anybody with any chronic lung, chronic heart, chronic kidney diseases, and on steroid therapy, immunosuppressed. They should all wear a good mask.'
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