In February, India officially announced that it had successfully contained the epidemic. Unexpectedly, the second wave of the epidemic is now even more serious. However, Indian citizens do not seem to be so Worry…
Since last week, the number of new confirmed cases of new coronavirus in India has been soaring in a single day. Data shows that India’s number of new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours has been soaring. The number of newly confirmed cases has once again set a new record for the country since the outbreak. It is also the third consecutive day that the number of newly confirmed cases in a single day has remained above 200,000.
WHO has issued a Warning, what is worrying is that the Kumbh Mela, the largest Hindu religious gathering in the world, is still in full swing.
WHO: The discovery of “double mutation” of the new coronavirus in India is worrying
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On the 16th local time, the WHO held a regular press conference on the new coronavirus. Maria Van Kerkhove, technical director of the WHO health emergency project, said that India discovered A new coronavirus carrying both E484Q and L452R mutations has been discovered, and relevant research information has been submitted to the WHO Virus Evolution Working Group. It is reported that the “double mutation” was discovered at the end of 2020, and the proportion of infection cases is increasing.
Maria Van Kerkhove pointed out that the “double mutations” of the virus are worrying, which may lead to increased infectivity, and some mutations will also reduce neutralization reaction may affect the effectiveness of epidemic prevention measures such as vaccines.
WHO is working with India and other countries to increase the proportion of virus gene sequencing for research.
Public Health England released a report on April 15, local time, stating that the UK is investigating a new virus variant that was first reported in (B.1.617) was discovered in India, and 77 cases related to it have been found in the UK.
It is reported that the virus variant may be more infectious and easier to evade the immune system due to two new important mutations in the spike protein , asymptomatic infection occurs. British medical experts said in an interview with the media that this “double mutation” virus variant is more difficult to deal with than the variants found in South Africa and Brazil because the vaccine has a lower degree of control over it.
On April 16, local time, the Israeli Ministry of Health issued an announcement: Health institutions have confirmed 7 cases of the mutated new coronavirus (VUI B.1.617) discovered in India. cases. These patients were all diagnosed after coming to Israel from other countries, and these people have not yet been vaccinated against the new coronavirus.
There is not yet enough evidence to determine whether the mutated coronavirus found in India poses a threat to people who have been vaccinated or who have recovered. The Israeli Ministry of Health reminds people who come to Israel from abroad, especially from countries with high incidence rates such as India, that they must undergo quarantine.
India’s medical resources are in urgent need
2 patients share 1 hospital bed
According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health of India, as of 8:00 local time on April 17, the number of patients in the past 24 Within hours, India had 234,692 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, with a total of 14,526,609 confirmed cases; 1,341 new deaths, with a total of 175,649 deaths; a total of 12,671,220 cured cases; and 1,679,740 existing confirmed cases.
Data shows that the number of newly confirmed cases in India in the past 24 hours has once again set a new record for the country since the outbreak, and is also the number of newly confirmed cases in a single day. It remains above 200,000 for the third consecutive day. Maharashtra, the state with the worst epidemic in India, has 63,729 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours; the capital New Delhi has 19,486 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, both setting new local single-day records since the outbreak.
As the COVID-19 epidemic continues to spread in India, due to the large number of patients and the shortage of medical resources, two patients have to share a bed in a hospital in New Delhi. Due to the shortage of beds, two patients could only lie on one bed and use ventilators. Patients, family members and medical workers are all crowded into an intensive care unit.
The government analyzed that the reasons for the rebound of the epidemic include: the decline in the implementation of epidemic prevention measures and the lax public awareness of epidemic prevention. Some health experts believe that slow vaccination, virus mutation, and large-scale gatherings of people are also important reasons for the rebound of the epidemic.
Millions of people bathe in the Ganges, and thousands of people “fight with feces”
Despite the severe epidemic, many large-scale gatherings of people in India were held as usual.
According to the Global Times, India’s New Delhi Television (NDTV) reported on the 15th that as India is grappling with the deadly second wave of the new crown epidemic, Andhra A large number of people in Kurnool district ignored the epidemic prevention regulations and gathered together to celebrate Ugadi without wearing masks.
During the celebrations of Ugadi festival, thousands of people ignored social distance and carried out “dung throwing war” to celebrate the festival. Local villagers would throw cows at each other. Dung to pray for health and prosperity. On the occasion of these events,� Hyderabad reported more than 5,000 new cases in the past 24 hours.
According to CCTV News and Indian media reports, more than two million Hindu pilgrims gathered on the banks of the Ganges to bathe in the water to celebrate the “Kumbh Mela” on the 12th. Indian police said that because the crowd was too large, restrictive measures could not be taken, and most people did not wear masks.
The Kumbh Mela is known as the world’s largest religious festival and will last for several weeks. According to Reuters, Hindus believe that bathing in the “holy Ganges” can “absolve people’s sins” and participating in the bathing ceremony of the Kumbh Mela can enable them to “get salvation from the cycle of life and death.” The festival lasts for several weeks every year and attracts tens of millions of Hindus.
Indian media predicts that this event will attract a total of 100 million to 150 million Hindu believers to participate. On the 12th, the arrival of the “Holy Bath Day” pushed this religious ceremony to a climax. Within three days, millions of believers immersed themselves in the Ganges to bathe. Among them, 943,000 people “entered the water” on the 14th alone.
According to Xiaoyang Video, an Indian pilgrim said in an interview with the media that we are not afraid of (the new coronavirus) and God will bless us. We want to celebrate the holidays and have a great holiday atmosphere.
Picture/Xiaoyang video screenshot
India imposes curfew for the first time
Chief Minister Kejriwal of New Delhi, the capital of India, announced on the 15th that the capital region will further tighten prevention and control measures to curb the rapid spread of the new crown epidemic. He announced at the press conference that during the weekend, all local shopping malls, gyms, spas, auditoriums and other public places will be closed; movie theaters will only allow 30% occupancy; restaurants will only provide takeaway services; basic life services will not be affected. The New Delhi Municipal Government has previously announced that from the 6th to the 30th of this month, New Delhi will implement a curfew from 22:00 to 5:00 the next day.
According to Overseas Network, the curfew will take effect from 10 pm on the 16th and will last until 6 am on the 19th. Sources in the Delhi government said the curfew will be extended if the number of coronavirus cases remains high in the coming days.
Kejriwal also said that as of the 15th, there were still about 5,000 hospital beds available for COVID-19 patients in the Indian Capital Region, and the city government was working hard to increase the number of beds with oxygen The number of beds in the equipment ensures that there are sufficient medical facilities to treat patients.
According to reports, in order to alleviate the strain on medical resources, the cities of New Delhi and Mumbai decided to convert some hotels and banquet halls into temporary hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms. .
On April 13, medical staff wore Protective suits look after COVID-19 patients in the isolation area of a hospital in New Delhi, the capital of India. (Published by Xinhua News Agency, photo by Partha Sarkar)
On the 15th, the Indian central government required all states to use medical oxygen rationally and avoid waste. India’s Ministry of Health said on the same day that India’s medical oxygen production capacity is normal and there are sufficient reserves, but the current challenge is how to transport medical oxygen from states with less urgent need to states with increased demand.
Previously announced the successful containment of the epidemic
The second wave of the epidemic is even more serious
Looking back on India’s anti-epidemic process, in early September 2020, India’s single-day increase in After reaching a peak of 90,000 cases, the number of cases dropped steadily, once falling below 10,000 in February this year. At that time, Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said: “India has successfully contained the epidemic.” Indian Prime Minister Modi even proposed that the Indian economy will return to normal in 2021 and India will defeat the epidemic.
However, after entering March, the number of confirmed cases in India suddenly rebounded. The second wave of the epidemic returned, and the growth rate of confirmed cases was faster than before. Faster and wider spread.
Regarding the complete control of the epidemic in India, epidemiological experts generally believe that after the first wave of prevention and control results, Indian society began to pay more attention to maintaining social distance and wearing masks. The implementation of anti-epidemic measures has become lax, as well as the spread of mutant strains of the new coronavirus. The arrival of the Kumbh Mela makes the situation even worse.
On April 9, police in India Galtala punishes those who do not wear masks. (Published by Xinhua News Agency)
In addition, the growth in the number of confirmed cases in India is also related to the intensity of virus testing. The Indian government is currently increasing its efforts to promote virus testing. According to data released by the Indian Council of Medical Research, as of April 13, a total of more than 260 million new coronavirus samples have been tested in India, and more than 1.41 million new coronavirus samples were tested on the 13th.
India’s low vaccination rate may be one of the reasons why the epidemic is out of control. According to Reuters estimates, less than 4% of India’s more than 1.3 billion people have received a COVID-19 vaccine.
Less than 4% of the population of more than 1.3 billion has received a COVID-19 vaccine.
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