India on Thursday crossed the 3 lakh mark in daily Covid-19 infection, in a worrying development in the pandemic situation of the country. The Union health ministry of Thursday said Omicron is driving the surge, but the effect has not been severe only because of the vaccine coverage. The Centre on January 10 notified that only symptomatic people should get tested. This created a notion that testing has gone down following the notification. The health ministry on Thursday said there has been no decline in the number of testing. Between Wednesday and Thursday, 19 lakh tests were conducted, the ministry said. Few districts which have seen a dip in the tests have been asked to ramp it up.
Fatality in 3rd wave significantly lower than Covid 2nd wave: Health ministry
Here are the 5 things Centre said on Covid third wave:
1. Comparing the Covid figures between April 1 and April 30, 2021, with that of January 1 and January 20, 2022, the health ministry claimed that in the Omicron-driven surge, the number of fatalities has remained significantly low.
2. During the second wave, when India was reporting 3.86 lakh Covid cases daily, the daily toll was over 3,059. On January 20, this year, India again breached the 3 lakh mark, but the toll was 380.
3. Giving the specific example of Delhi, the ministry said during the 2nd wave, caused by Delta, bed occupancy in the Capital remained significantly high between April 1 and May 20, 2021. In the third wave, in contrast, Delhi's daily cases peaked up in the first two weeks of January but bed occupancy remained low.
4. The current surge in India is not witnessing severe illness and death following high vaccination, the Centre said.
{{/usCountry}}4. The current surge in India is not witnessing severe illness and death following high vaccination, the Centre said.
{{/usCountry}}5. However, those with co-morbidities should monitor their health and avoid complications.