Covid: Number of districts with 10% Covid positivity rate touches 14 | India News

NEW DELHI: The number of districts with 10% or more Covid-positivity has now gone up to 14. The weekly analysis of the trend during March 12-18 also shows that 34 districts had Covid-positivity rates between 5% and 10% — till March 14, the number was 15.
In the March 8-14 week, number of districts with 10% or more Covid-positivity rate was nine.
In Delhi, the latest data show that three districts — south (7.49%), north-east (5.71%) and east (5.34%) — have more than 5% positivity rates. In Maharashtra, the cities of Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Pune, Ahmednagar, Sangli Nashik, Akola and Solapur have positivity rates of over 5%. Bengaluru Urban, Mysuru and Shivamogga in Karnataka also fall in this category.

Other states in which some of their districts have high positivity rates include Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

Last week, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan had written to Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana to implement measures for prompt and effective management of Covid-19. In Maharashtra, the rise in Covid cases has coincided with genome-sequencing results that confirm the presence of XBB.1.16, a new Omicron sub-variant, he said.
“Insacog labs — a consortium of laboratories to monitor genomic variants in SARS-CoV2, virus that causes Covid-19 — have reported 40 genome sequences of the XBB.1.16 version of the Covid-19 virus from January 1 to March 14 from Maharashtra,” Bhushan stated.

In Gujarat too, where an increase in Covid cases has been detected in seven districts, Insacog labs have reported 26 genome sequences of XBB.1.16 version of the virus during the same period.
Epidemiologists say though cases are on the rise, preliminary reports suggest symptoms are mostly mild and manageable at home. “We haven’t seen a significant rise in hospitalisation,” said N K Mehra, immunologist and emeritus scientist at Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). He, however, suggested continued surveillance to spot any potential cluster or emergence of a new variant of concern. Across India, data shared by the government suggests there is a significant rise in cases though testing numbers are low.

On Monday, India reported 918 new Covid cases. The Centre has advised states reporting higher number of cases to conduct micro-level examination of the situation.