New COVID surge forces India to ramp up testing, surveillance

People wear face masks as they arrive at a government hospital, since a rise in Covid-19 coronavirus cases, in Chennai on April 1, 2023. (AFP)

• WHO identifies a new omicron sub-variant fueling India’s infection surge
• States to conduct mock drills of all hospital infrastructure from Monday

NEW DELHI: India is observing a rise in coronavirus disease cases, with the number of new infections crossing 6,155 on Saturday, prompting authorities to step up surveillance measures to prevent the situation from getting out of control.
The World Health Organization has identified XBB.1.16, an omicron sub-variant, as fueling the infection surge in India. Known as Arcturus, XBB.1.16 has high infectivity and pathogenicity and has been listed as a WHO variant under monitoring since late March.
On Friday, the number of reported daily cases in India crossed 6,000 for first time in over 200 days, prompting Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to advise sates to be on alert, ramp up testing and vaccinations, and start reviewing their preparedness from Saturday.
“States need to continue working in (a) collaborative spirit as was done during the previous surges for COVID-19 prevention and management,” he said, as quoted in a statement issued by the Ministry of Health after a meeting with regional health chiefs.
The minister also “urged the state health ministers to conduct mock drills of all hospital infrastructure on April 10 and 11, 2023, and review the health preparedness with district administrations and health officials on April 8 and 9, 2023.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated India, especially during the second viral wave between March and May 2021, when its hospitals run out of staff, beds and oxygen to treat the sick. People with empty oxygen cylinders were seen lining up outside refilling facilities, hoping to save relatives in critical care in hospital.
Many people were forced to turn to makeshift facilities for mass burials and cremations as funeral services could not deal with the unprecedented number of bodies.
It remains unclear how many people died during that period. Indian authorities put the death toll for January 2020 to December 2021 at about 480,000, but WHO estimates show that 4.7 million people have died in India as a result of the pandemic.
In the wake of the new infection surge, medical experts agreed that increased vigilance and precautionary measures should be put back in place.
“I suppose whenever it goes beyond 5 percent positivity rate then this advisory kicks it ... the government is right,” Dr. Dorairaj Prabhakaran, an epidemiologist at the Public Health Foundation of India, told Arab News.
Some say that besides increasing testing and vaccination, it is high time that an action plan was put in place.
“What is the intervention? We know from the WHO that wearing (masks) and maintaining social distance is not having that kind of impact. It is all right to say test more (but) is that enough? What kind of preparedness does the government plan to undertake,” asked Prof. Rama V. Baru from the Center of Social Medicine and Community Health at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.
“We know we are under-testing and there is a rise in the reported cases — which means is it another variant? It should be.”