Triggering a fresh surge in daily cases, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has left the world baffled as China, Hong Kong battle the fourth wave. The highly virulent strain Omicron, which was first detected in South Africa is the dominant strain globally now, and China, Hong Kong are facing the wrath. Not just China, but there is a steep rise in daily cases in other European and East Asian countries as well. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) European office warned of an uptick in cases in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine March 16.
According to the reports, China’s new Covid-19 cases more than doubled on Tuesday from the previous day as it now faces by far its biggest outbreak since the early days of the pandemic. Taking cognizance of the worsening situation in the other countries, the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday directed officials to maintain a high level of alertness and surveillance, and carry out genomic sequencing aggressively.
At a high-level meeting, chaired by the minister, the government’s decision of resuming scheduled international flights from March 27, the vaccination situation, and the level of genomic surveillance were reviewed. “Given the rising cases in China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, and some European countries, a high-level meeting was held by the Union health minister with senior government officials and experts. “The minister has directed aggressive genomic sequencing, heightened surveillance, and a high level of alertness,” an official source said.
Meanwhile, looking at the current graph in China and South Korea, Dr NK Arora, chairman of India`s Covid-19 Working Group of NTAGI, has warned the Indian citizens said that Indians should not take the disease “for granted” because new variants can occur at all times in
Talking to the media, Dr Arora said, “Any kind of complacency at this time will not be good just because Omicron wave has subsided so early. We cannot take it for granted and presume that nothing will happen in the future. New variants can occur at all times.” He further added, “The surveillance of INSACOG is already taking place at high intensity. Now there is a proposal to expand the INSACOG surveillance to sewage surveillance just like polio and that sewage material will also be undergoing analysis for COVID viruses.”
China, Hong Kong Battles Fourth COVID Wave
China has been witnessing the worst outbreak of COVID-19 in the last two years forcing the country to place millions under lockdown in desperate attempts to curb the surge. The situation has also deteriorated in Hong Kong. In the last week, over 30 million people have been put under complete lockdown as cases related to Omicron and its variant – Stealth Omicron rises exponentially.
The Chinese authorities earlier this week tightened anti-virus controls at ports, raising the risk of trade disruptions after some auto and electronics factories shut down as the government fights coronavirus outbreaks.
(With inputs from Agencies)
