E-Paper
State minister Tope sounds alert: Covid-19 cases rising among those aged below 20 years
Maharashtra state health minister Rajesh Tope has sounded an alert that more new Covid-19 cases are being reported among the younger population, from the age group of below 20 years
PUNE As the number of new Covid-19 cases and active cases has gone down, the state government decided to reopen schools from October 4, a month before the Diwali celebrations kicked in.
However, now state health minister, Rajesh Tope, has sounded an alert that more new Covid-19 cases are being reported among the younger population.
As per data from the Medical Education and Drugs Department (MEDD) for Maharashtra, of the 32,719 new Covid-19 cases reported in the state, 3,945 are from the age group of below 20 years.
On Monday, during a press briefing in Jalna, state health minister Rajesh Tope said that more Covid-19 cases are being reported among the younger population, those aged between 11-20 years and so the centre must begin vaccination for this population.
He said, “Over the last 20 days, 1,000 children have been affected by Covid-19. While the symptoms are mild, they can still infect other members of the family. So we have asked the central government to start vaccinating children in the age group of 11-18 years, as well as to give booster doses to the elderly.”
Tope also added that in most of these cases the children are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.
As per the MEDD data, in the past one month alone, between October 23 and November 23, the state reported 2,875 new Covid-19 cases in the age group between 11-20 years, while in the age group between 0-10 years, 1,070 new Covid-19 cases were reported. One of the causes for the rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in children could have been the reopening of schools, for Classes 5-12.
As per the MEDD data, about 7.46% of the cases reported in the state belong to the 11-20 age group and 3.19% belong to the 0-10 age group. However, of the total 6,655,308 cases reported in the state, the highest percentage is still from the age group between 31-40 years who account for 22.21%, followed by the 21-30-year group who account for 17.90% of the total cases, and then, the 41-50-year age group who account for 17.85% of the cases.
