Centre counters its epidemiologist, says Omicron 'not common cold'

Photo for representational purpose

As many as 300 districts in India are reporting weekly Covid-19 case positivity of more than 5 per cent, the Union government said on Wednesday as it urged people not to treat infection due to Omicron variant as common cold and get vaccinated.

This comes a day after a top epidemiologist at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Jayaprakash Muliyil, said that rules so far to tackle the pandemic needed a complete relook as Omicron was a far milder variant than Delta and not frightening.

"The consequence of a viral infection now is just like a cold. We have to recognise that we have been chasing a particular kind of objective so far," said Dr Muliyil, epidemiologist and chairperson, Scientific Advisory Committee at ICMR's National Institute of Epidemiology.

NITI Aayog Member (Health) V K Paul on Wednesday, however, countered Muliyil's statement and said, "Omicron is not the common cold, cannot take it lightly. We need to be vigilant, get vaccinated and follow Covid-appropriate behaviour." "Vaccination is an important pillar in our Covid response programme," he added.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Joint Secretary in Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said a sharp rise in Covid-19 infections has been noted in India with the case positivity climbing to 11.05 per cent on Wednesday from 1.1 per cent on December 30.

Concurrently, Covid-19 cases have been rising globally with January 10 recording the highest ever single-day rise of 31.59 lakh cases worldwide, he said.

The official said that currently, 300 districts in India are reporting weekly case positivity of more than 5 per cent.

Informing the press conference that 19 states have over 10,000 active Covid-19 cases, Agarwal said Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Gujarat are emerging as states of concern due to the rise in Covid-19 cases there.

India added 1,94,720 new infections to its tally of Covid-19 cases pushing it to 3,60,70,510, according to the Union Health Ministry data on Wednesday.

Active cases have increased to 9,55,319, the highest in 211 days, while the death toll has climbed to 4,84,655 with 442 fresh fatalities. Of the total 4,868 cases of the Omicron variant, 1,805 people have recovered or migrated so far.

(With PTI inputs)