Covid situation has stabilised but R-number is high in five states, says govt

The Centre on Tuesday said though the overall Covid situation has stabilised in the country now, the rising reproductive number in some states remains an area of key concern.

It added that the R-number, a key metric measuring how fast the pandemic is spreading, is now above 1 in five states — Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.

Last week, the Health Ministry had said that the R-number has risen above 1 in eight states and UTs — Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir (1.4); Lakshadweep (1.3); Tamil Nadu, Mizoram, Karnataka (1.2); Kerala and Puducherry (1.1).

A value of 1 means every infected person, on an average, is transmitting the disease to one more person. A value greater than 1, therefore, means the pandemic is in an ascendant phase, and that cases will rise.

The government further said that 44 districts across 11 states and UTs are still reporting a weekly positivity rate of more than 10 per cent. Over the last two weeks, 37 districts across nine states, including Kerala and Tamil Nadu, are showing rising trend in daily cases, it said.

The situation in Kerala still remains a matter of concern as the state contributed 51.51 per cent of total Covid cases recorded in the country in the past seven days.

“A central team was sent to Kerala to see how the ‘test-track-treat’ strategy is being implemented. The other things that the team was tasked to oversee were surveillance of containment zones, the infrastructure of hospitals, and the progress of vaccination,” NCDC Director Dr SK Singh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

He added, “In some Kerala districts, like Malappuram, Kozhikode, and Pathanamthitta, the positivity rate is increasing. Also, 80 per cent of cases were found to be positive for Delta variant, like other states.”

The government also said that the Delta Plus variant has been detected in 86 samples across the country, including 34 in Maharashtra, as on August 9.

“The variants of concern that we are monitoring are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Delta Plus. There are two variants under investigation — Kappa and B.1617.3,” Singh said.

India logged 28,204 new Covid cases, the lowest in 147 days, while the active cases fell to 3,88,508, the lowest in 139 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated at 8 am on Tuesday. The death toll has climbed to 4,28,682 with 373 fresh fatalities.

People wait to get tested for Covid-19 outside Thane station on Tuesday (Express photo by Deepak Joshi)

Delhi has overcome Delta variant; new serosurvey soon: Satyendar Jain

Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday said Delhi has already overcome the Delta variant of coronavirus detected in over 80 per cent of Covid samples sent for genome sequencing during the second wave of the pandemic and thereafter.

The minister told reporters the Centre has not yet asked for data on deaths due to shortage of oxygen and that a new serosurvey will be undertaken in the city soon.

The first serosurvey conducted in June-end last year found Covid antibodies in 22.6 per cent of the samples.

The number increased to 29.1 per cent in August and then dropped to 25.1 per cent in September. In October, it went up to 25.5 per cent. The January round of the survey found antibodies in 56.13 per cent of people screened.

Scenes from a Covid-vaccination camp. (Express photo by Amit Chakravarty)

Covid during pregnancy linked with higher risk of preterm birth: Lancet study

People who are infected with the virus that causes Covid-19 while pregnant face a higher risk of having a very preterm birth, as well as any preterm birth, according to a large US study published in The Lancet Regional Health journal.

The researchers at the University of California (UC) San Francisco in the US found that the risk of very preterm birth, which occurs at less than 32 weeks of gestation, was 60 per cent higher for people infected with COVID-19 at some point in their pregnancy.

The risk of any preterm birth or giving birth at less than 37 weeks was 40 per cent higher in those with the SARS-CoV-2 infection, they said.

For those who also had hypertension, diabetes and/or obesity as well as COVID-19, the risk of preterm birth rose 160 per cent, according to the study.

(With agency inputs)