India has seen a sudden surge in the covid cases in the past few days. The Omicron variant which has been taking over the world all over has finally started to show its rapid spread in India as well.
The union government has issued a written warning to the states and has urged them to take immediate and provocative action against the sudden spike that has been seen mostly in 14 cities across the country. For now, the mortality rate has been under control but to avoid increasing the rate in the near future, the states have to be extremely cautious of the deadly variant.
VK Paul, the government’s Covid Task Force Chief wrote to eight states including Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, and Telangana. Around 14 districts in India have shown a massive surge in the positivity rate of the Omicron which has been between 5-10 percent. Paul also stated that Omicron is now approaching the nation rapidly. He reported that the nation has seen 961 cases across 22 states so far. The worst affected states include Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kerala, and Telangana.
The national capital of Delhi has shown the maximum spike, closely followed by Mumbai. Some other cities which have shown a rapid increase are Chennai, Bengaluru, Gurgaon, Kolkata, and Ahemdabad. Mumbai has reported an 82 percent jump in the number of new cases by reporting 2510 cases in the past 24 hours. Delhi also showed an 86 percent jump with 923 cases being reported on Wednesday.
In an attempt to stop the deadly virus from spreading rapidly across the city, the Delhi government imposed a series of rules and regulations under the yellow alert. This is part of the four-staged GRAP ( Graded Response Action Plan) which was approved by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority back in July as part of the measures for a possible third wave of COVID. This plan is being considered for the rest of the country as well.
Under the plan, most activities could resume in phases when the second wave stopped. For now, Malls, shops, cinema halls, spas, and gyms are shut. The schools and colleges are being shut too. Private offices are allowed to operate at fifty percent capacity only from 9 am to 5 pm. The shops selling non-essential goods and services are allowed to operate if they follow the odd-even rule imposed by the government.
Rajesh Bhushan, the Health Secretary has stated that there has been a massive increase in cases and the doubling rate time has been lessened in a few states. He urged the states to take proper and immediate measures to stop this spread and to further reduce the mortality rate in the future. The state governments have imposed various rules in their respective states and now it is up to the citizens to follow these strictly if they want a better year ahead.
