India’s daily covid cases have fallen below 1000
On Monday (4 April 2022), India reported 913 new infections, with active cases falling below 13,000.
It is remarkable because after two years, precisely 715 days, India has recorded such low numbers of infections. Previously, on 18 April 2020, the country registered 991 fresh covid cases during the onset of the pandemic.
Likewise, at least 10 Indian states recorded their lowest daily infections in two weeks. Maharashtra, for instance, now has less than 100 cases after 31 March 2020.
With a significant fall in Covid cases across the country, many states are doing away with Pandemic restrictions. Indeed, Maharashtra, Delhi, and Telangana have made wearing masks voluntary.
Nevertheless, with the surge in Covid variant of mutation XE in the UK, and extensive lockdowns in China, there is a fear of a possible fourth wave. Also, the World Health Organization has called XE—the recombinant of subvariants BA.1 and BA.2 of Omicron more transmissible.
Will a fourth wave hit India? Is mutation XE a cause of concern? Here’s what experts have to say:
Nivedita Gupta, Head of Virology, Indian Council of Medical Research, said it is difficult to say whether XE will induce a new surge of covid cases but the probability seems low.
According to E Sree Kumar, Chief Scientific Officer, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, new variants such as XE could cause some mild to moderate infections in the population. However, severe cases or a new wave or sudden surge is unlikely because the Indian population has been exposed to the Omicron variant already.
As per T Jacob John, Former Head of the Departments of Clinical Virology and Microbiology, CMC Vellore, no new wave is likely in India.
He said, “The pandemic is over. We are now in the endemic stage. The level of immunity in the global population and India is now at its highest through hybrid immunity—vaccination-led and infection-led.”
However, he also added, “One needs to remain cautious and pick up changes in the genomic sequencing, and not let the guards down…Mask-wearing and hand hygiene must be followed.”