India, Maldives and Nepal see high rise in Covid19 cases

 

New Delhi 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has flagged XBB.1.16, an Omicron subvariant that has been documented mostly in India.

WHO Covid-19 technical team is monitoring it because it has potential changes that ought to be tracked. The strain has been reported in 22 countries, with the majority of cases coming from India.

There has been over 114 per cent rise in Covid-19 deaths in India and 437 per cent spike in cases 

in the last 28 days. The epidemiological report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday

states that the South-East Asia Region reported over 27,000 new cases, a 152 per cent increase as compared 

to the previous 28-day period, with the highest proportional increase observed in India 

(18,130 versus 3,378 new cases) followed by the Maldives (129 per cent) and Nepal (89 per cent). 

Similarly, India reported at least 62 new deaths which means 114 per cent rise with one new death per 100,000.

Public health experts have said that the symptoms of this new variant are mostly low-grade flu-like. 

People may experience symptoms in the upper and lower respiratory tract. In terms of upper respiratory 

tract symptoms, people may experience nasal discharge, a sore throat, a slow-rising fever that lasts for one or 

two days, and loss of smell.

In case of these symptoms, people should get tested for Covid. For lower respiratory tract symptoms, 

people may suffer from severe bronchitis and cough. This new variant is different from others in 

the sense that it spreads faster than other variants, experts say.

Sources said deaths due to the virus are trending up too, but numbers are very low so far. 

 Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi and Tamil Nadu are the worst hit. 

It is also stated that Himachal Pradesh, the most vaccinated state, is also witnessing a surprise 

increase but it is likely this is happening because the state is a well-known tourist hotspot.

On Thursday, Maharashtra reported 694 fresh cases and no deaths. Around 9.4 per cent of lab 

samples have tested positive till March 30. Mumbai has the maximum number of active cases (846) in the 

state, followed by Pune (773) and Thane (524).

Kerala also saw 765 cases. Out of the 14 deaths nationwide on Thursday, eight were from the southern state.

Thursday’s 3,016 cases figures were the highest since October 2, 2022.

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