'Infections rise in winter': Ex-AIIMS chief warns high-risk groups as Covid explodes in China

Amid a sharp rise in Covid cases in China and four other countries, former AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria on Wednesday suggested high-risk groups can take booster doses as viral infections rise in winter. 

Guleria said India's situation is much better than that of China because our vaccination strategy has been very successful, most of the people in the high-risk group have taken booster doses and natural infection has happened.

Also Read: Covid variant BF.7 spreading like wildfire in China: How worried should you be?
 

"Viral infections rise in winter. Better care needs to be taken. Important for people, especially high-risk groups, to protect themselves and take booster doses," he said while speaking to the news agency ANI.

Guleria, who served as Delhi AIIMS Director for over five years, said the cases are not rising anywhere but "we need to be vigilant".

"Proper surveillance is needed so that if cases rise anywhere we pick it up at the earliest and conduct testing so that it can be seen that no new variant is coming up and not spreading further," he added.

Coivd resurgence in China, the US, Japan, and Brazil have triggered fears among nations including India, which has asked all the states to ramp up genome sequencing to track any possible new variants.

Today, Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya reviewed the Covid situation and the preparedness of the public health system for surveillance, containment, and management in view of rising Covid cases worldwide. He advised the states and UTs to send samples of all positive cases to INSACOG labs to facilitate tracking new variants.

"COVID is not over yet. I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance. I also urge people to take COVID vaccination," he said.

China has witnessed a massive surge in infection cases after it lifted the zero-Covid policy following rare protests against the harsh restrictions that included strict lockdown. Experts believe that China is in this mess because its vaccine is not that effective and the majority of the population is yet to get natural immunity.