IPA Newspack
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets

IPA /

IPA Special

IPA Special

New Coronavirus Variant Reminds Impending Threats

By Dr. Gyan Pathak

Within few days of lifting all COVID-19 related curbs from April 2, including mandatory wearing of masks and maintaining physical distancing, Maharashtra reported India’s first case of Coronavirus variant XE on April 6 in Mumbai, though within hours Union Health Ministry disagreed saying the present evidence does not suggest that it is XE variant. Since it is only a preliminary assessment of one variant, and there may emerge others, India needs utmost care and preparedness for any eventuality.  The fact is that this new variant has been detected in Britain and it will need a few days for this to infect people in India.

The official media release by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has not only reported the first case of Coronavirus variant XE but also one case of Kappa variant. The patients with the new variants of the virus, however, did not have any server symptoms so far. Obviously, it should not be a matter of panic, because it does not present serious threat to health, both in terms of number of infections or in virulence, however it certainly reminds the impending threats from more infectious and virulent variants to be evolved in the future. Only the last week the World Health Organisation (WHO) had said that the new XE mutant may be more transmissible than any strain of coronavirus, therefore we should not reach at hasty conclusions.

An official from the Union Health Ministry has been quoted saying “FASTQ files in respect of the sample, which is being said to be XE variant, were analysed in detail by genomic experts of INSACOG who have inferred that genomic constitution of this variant does not correlate with genomic picture of XE variant.” Even additional commissioner of BMC has been quoted saying, “As per the guidelines of the WHO, the BA2 and XE is at par so far the spreadability is concerned. As of now there is nothing to worry about.”

Both the statements may be true but only partially, since these statements are focused on only “infection” and “virulence”. However, when we consider these statements on larger perspective of health and related crises, these presents a totally false picture of the situation creating dangerous level of complacency both among the people and authorities dealing with the crises.

BMC has said about 230 samples were sent for genome sequencing, out of which 228 were found infected by Omicron BA2 variant, one had Kappa and one infected with XE. The patient found with XE infection had foreign travel history and had returned from South Africa in February. The new strain was detected in the UK at the start of the New Year and by April 3, 637 cases were already reported.

On identification of lower number of new cases and new variants, WHO experts have repeatedly said that it is due to considerably lower number of tests carried out and incapacity of our testing systems to fast identify the new variants. Therefore, the “fewer numbers” logic does not present the real picture. Even undetected cases may only be unreported cases. Therefore, it should not be made the ground for complacency.

India also needs to be more vigilant and careful about even on XE variant, since it is a “recombinant” mutation of BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron strains. One should note that a recombinant mutation emerge when a patient is infected by multiple variants, that mix up their genetic material during replication and form a new mutation. This new mutation, according to WHO, appears to be 10 per cent more transmissible than BA.2 sub-variant. Therefore, we need to watch the development carefully, not for this one, but other more infections and virulent mutations too.

Though the officials and experts are telling the people not to be worried, we should not become complacent for numerous other reasons. One of these is very high level of the rate of hospitalization. BMC has said in the release that out of the total 230 patients whose samples were sent for genome sequencing, 21 were to be hospitalized though note of them needed oxygen or intensive care. India has a population of about 1.4 billion and if 21 out of 230 patient need hospitalization it would be too much to be managed. Our scarce hospital facilities might be overwhelmed soon. Additionally, nobody knows how ferocious the situation might turn into in future with known and unknown variants. It must also be taken into consideration because 12 of the hopitalised patients were unvaccinated while nine had taken both doses. It means the new variants are bypassing the immunity induced by vaccines or the disease itself, which reminds us that the decisions of withdrawing all curbs were premature, and we need more investment in research and development of new effective vaccines and drugs.

Moreover, India and all its state should always keep in mind that the country not only have scarce medical facilities but also have on about 13 lakh allopathic doctors registered with state medical councils and National Medical Commission as of November 2021 for all sorts of diseases. Thus we have one allopathic doctor on about 1076 people. If 2,89,000 dentists and 5,65,000 Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha and homeopathic doctors are included, and if assumed that 80 per cent of them will be available, India’s doctor-population ratio would be 1:834. On April 5, 2022, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansuch Manaviya had told Rajya Sabha that there were only 13 lakh allied and healthcare professionals in the country. Number of registered nursing personnel according to India Nursing Councils records are 33 lakh which includes about 23 lakh registered nurses and midwives and 10 lakh nurse associates. Thus we have only 1.96 nurses per 1,000 populations. It is clear that we don’t have even manpower to handle large scale hospitalization with or without need of Oxygen or ICU. (IPA Service)

IPA Special

BJP Leaders Have Started Course For Overthrow Of Nitish Kumar Regime

August 17, 2022
IPA Special

Decoding My Seventy-Two Years In Independent India-Part Two

August 17, 2022
IPA Special

Reining In ‘Freebies’ Needs Thorough Debate

August 17, 2022
IPA Special

Release Of The Eleven Imprisoned Rapists Of Bilkis Bano Is Atrocious

August 17, 2022
IPA Special

Heyday For Geopolitics Of Eurasian Transport

August 17, 2022
IPA Special

Jagdeep Dhankar Had A Chequered Career Involving Many Political Parties

August 17, 2022
IPA Special

NATO Expansion Into Finland And Sweden A Danger To World Peace

August 17, 2022
Happening Now

DMK moves Supreme Court over ‘freebies’ term scope

August 17, 2022
Politics

R’sthan Cong Rs 20 lakh aid for slain Dalit boy’s family

August 17, 2022
Politics

Gehlot vs Pilot fight resumes ahead of polls next year

August 17, 2022
Happening Now

Azad quits J&K Cong panel within hours of appointment

August 17, 2022
Happening Now

Meira Kumar says ‘Chamar’ used as slur against her father

August 17, 2022
IPA Special

Prime Minister’s Five Pledges On Independence Day Mean Very Little To Poor

August 16, 2022
IPA Special

Labour Movement Has Lost Its Earlier Striking Power

August 16, 2022
IPA Special

Decoding My Seventy-Two Years In Independent India

August 16, 2022
IPA Special

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Achhe Din’ Now Needs 25 Years More

August 16, 2022
IPA Special

Donald Trump Is On Dock Over FBI Seizures Of Classified Documents From His House

August 16, 2022
IPA Special

Bihar Developments Are Going To Have Impact In Uttar Pradesh In 2024 Polls

August 16, 2022
IPA Special

Amrit Mahotsava Has Been Turned Into A Big Jumla By Sangh Parivar

August 16, 2022
IPA Special

For Global Arms Dealers, Russian War In Ukraine Is A Big Bonanza

August 16, 2022

An appeal

The legacy of IPA, founded by Nikhil Chakravartty, the doyen of journalism in India, to keep the flag of independent media flying high, is facing the threat of extinction due to the effect of the Covid pandemic. Only an emergency funding can avert such an eventuality. We appeal to all those who believe in the freedom of expression to contribute to this noble cause.
Click here to learn more

Share

Reply

  • 0
More on IPA

BJP Leaders Have Started Course For Overthrow Of Nitish Kumar Regime

August 17, 2022 3:33 pm | IPA Staff

  By Arun Srivastava   It was certainly not a coincidence that on the day Prime   Minister was addressing the Independence   Day rally, Amit Shah...

IPA Special

Decoding My Seventy-Two Years In Independent India-Part Two

August 17, 2022 3:32 pm | IPA Staff

  By Nitya Chakraborty   In 1960, at the global level, the most important development was the World Conference of the   communist parties, the result...

IPA Special

Reining In ‘Freebies’ Needs Thorough Debate

August 17, 2022 3:30 pm | IPA Staff

By Dr. Gyan Pathak   The ongoing freebies case in the Supreme Court of India has reached an interesting stage with the DMK seeking to...

IPA Special

Release Of The Eleven Imprisoned Rapists Of Bilkis Bano Is Atrocious

August 17, 2022 3:30 pm | IPA Staff

By Sushil Kutty   Monday, the eleven   persons   who gang-raped Bilkis Bano during the 2002 Gujarat communal riots walked free. The panel that let them...

IPA Special

BJP Leaders Have Started Course For Overthrow Of Nitish Kumar Regime

in IPA Special
Aug 17, 2022   ·  

Decoding My Seventy-Two Years In Independent India-Part Two

in IPA Special
Aug 17, 2022   ·  

Reining In ‘Freebies’ Needs Thorough Debate

in IPA Special
Aug 17, 2022   ·  

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Follow us on
Up Next: Shiv Sena Thwarts The BJP From Bringing Down The MVA
©2020 -2021 India Press Agency, All Rights Reserved
Newspack by India Press Agency
Posting....
logo
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets