Covid Nasal vaccine okayed, countrywide hospital drills next week: 10 points

As China tackles a fresh Covid surge - which according to a study could mean up tp 1 million cases a day - the central government in India and states are taking preventative measures. Covid is not yet over yet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed on Thursday as he held a high-level meeting to review preparedness of health infrastructure, vaccination campaign and emergence of new variants. While India has witnessed average daily cases falling to as low as 153, as per a government release, globally 5.9 lakh cases have been reported over the last six weeks. Many states are being cautious as mask rules are brought back in crowded places. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is set to hold a meeting with state health ministers at 3 pm. Officials also said that a countrywide drill will take place next week on Tuesday at hospitals to check preparedness.

Here are top ten updates on the current Covid situation in India and China:

1) Bharat Biotech’s nasal Covid vaccine is set to be included in the vaccination programme from Friday and the app to book vaccines will be modified, officials aware of the matter said, adding that it will be available in private centres initially as a heterologous booster for adults.

2) Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka are among the states that have reviewed preparations for Covid preparations, HT reported. However, top officials have also said that there was no need to panic. India is also testing 2 per cent of international passengers randomly at airports, Mandaviya told Parliament on Thursday. He is expected to hold a meeting with ministers of states and union territories on Friday, news agency PTI reported.

3) “There are no direct flights from China to India and we are taking all possible precautions that we have learnt in the past two years to manage the spread of infection in the country,” he further underlined.

4) At the high-level meeting on Thursday, Prime Minister Modi asked top officials to ensure that the “entire Covid infrastructure at all levels is maintained at a high level of preparedness in terms of equipment, processes and human resources”. He has also “advised states to audit Covid specific facilities to ensure operational readiness of hospital Infrastructure, including oxygen cylinders, ventilators and human resources,” his office said in a statement.

5) Leading by example, PM Modi and other members of Parliament on Thursday were seen wearing masks during the session.

6) Genome sequencing - which was also a talking point at the Prime Minister’s meeting - is back in focus with the fresh surge in China said to be driven by the BF.7 subvariant of Omicron. It is believed to be one of the most infectious so far, since the outbreak of the virus first in China’s Wuhan in 2019.

7) In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has sought stepping up testing and genome sequencing. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also urged people not to panic.

8) Karnataka Health minister K Sudhakar on Thursday informed about an advisory to make masks mandatory “in indoor areas, closed spaces and in areas with air-conditioning”. At airports, random testing and heightened screening measures are also expected, the minister said following a meeting with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

9) Meanwhile, political controversies linked to the increased caution have already been triggered with the Centre raising objections over the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, which enters Delhi on Saturday.

10) “This yatra will go to Kashmir. Now, they have come out with a new idea. They wrote me a letter that Covid-19 was spreading, stop the yatra,” Rahul Gandhi said in response to the Union Health Minister’s letter.

(With agency inputs)