The Center on Wednesday mentioned that regardless of the present stage of hospitalizations amid an Omicron surge, Covid circumstances are spreading at a big scale, with a progressive improve within the variety of districts reporting a rise in positivity – in only one week. , ending January 11, 300 districts registered a positivity charge of over 5 per cent as in comparison with solely 78 within the earlier week.
And whereas Dr VK Paul, who heads the National COVID Task Force, described the positivity charge as “unprecedentedly high”, the Union well being ministry attributed the spike within the complete variety of lively circumstances reported from a number of pockets to states throughout the nation. flagged off.
Elaborating on the “double concerns”, the ministry flagged eight states with rising positivity charges and a major improve in caseloads: Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Gujarat (see field).
The ministry additionally pointed to 6 different states which have registered a greater than six-fold improve in circumstances since final week. Bihar tops the checklist with 11 instances development and is adopted by center
State, Rajasthan, Orissa, Punjab and Chhattisgarh.
“The intensity of the pandemic has increased. It’s pretty clear from the data that it’s being owned and operated by Omicron. This is rapidly changing or has replaced the previous major delta version. Omicron has a high transmittance and growth rate…we are seeing an exceptionally high test positivity rate,” Paul, who can be a member of NITI Aayog, mentioned.
He reiterated that Omicron “is not a common cold” and added that the newest model has the potential to affect well being infrastructure.
“Understanding the disease from an Indian experience… It appears that hospitalization rates may be lower. Maybe. But it is spreading in a big way. If one gets infected, the whole family gets infected. We cannot reduce vigilance and preparedness. I support the WHO statement: Omicron is not a common cold. This is not a simple or a simple infection. We cannot take this lightly,” Paul mentioned.
“Also, the current situation is such because of high vaccination rates… because vaccines provide protection against serious disease. So Omicron is not the common cold and has caused many health systems in some countries to collapse. Many health workers are forced to stay in homes. There is more pressure. We have to slow down the transmission,” he mentioned.
Meanwhile, the middle cautioned towards the “large-scale and irrational use” of molanupiravir, the primary antiviral drug granted emergency use authorization by a nationwide regulator, and confused that its use was handled with “known and unknown harm”. Efforts ought to be made to limit its use within the Benefit”.
ICMR chief Dr Balram Bhargava, citing specialists from the COVID Task Force, cautioned that the usage of Molnupiravir carries some danger of warning.
“We had extensive debate and discussion among national experts…. The final conclusion was that Molnupiravir has some risks that warrant caution in its use. Number two, the experts present at the meeting were of the opinion that Molnupiravir was being overused and irrational. Number three, efforts should be made to restrict its use as the known and unknown harms far outweigh its claimed benefits,” Bhargava mentioned.
“Number four, currently available synthesized evidence was reviewed, and members unanimously agreed that it does not qualify for inclusion of mollupiravir in national treatment guidelines. Emerging evidence will be continually reviewed,” he mentioned.
s“Finally, it is also highlighted that the current clinical window of an application for molanupiravir appears extremely narrow, with relevance only for the following: elderly, unrelated to other comorbidities. There is no evidence of benefit in diabetics, and those previously infected with COVID-19 or vaccinated,” he mentioned.
Paul additionally expressed “concern” over the irrational use of medication to deal with Covid.
“Whatever medicine are being given, there needs to be a rational strategy of their use. Overuse can not occur. In the final wave, we noticed a scary state of affairs the place overuse of medication led to mucormycosis (black fungus)…a There is a guilt that there was an overuse. Steroids are very highly effective and life-saving medicine, however additionally they have unwanted effects. They disrupt many biochemical pathways. We have realized our lesson. We don’t need this to occur once more.”
“For gentle signs, in case of fever, solely paracetamol ought to be given. For cough, one can use cough syrup, heat water, and gargles… If the cough persists for greater than 5 days, in choose circumstances, you should use inhalation budesonide (a reconstituted drugs to forestall bronchial asthma signs) ) You can use. These are solely three issues to do,” Paul mentioned.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
