India logs highest new Covid cases in three weeks

The Delta variant, responsible for disastrous second Covid-19 pandemic in India during the months of April and May, is said to be much more contagious and spreads as easily as chickenpox, according to an internal document from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The document, obtained by The Washington Post, described the Delta strain as “a variant so contagious that it acts almost like a different novel virus”. It said that Delta, which was first classified in India last year, leaps from target to target more swiftly than even Ebola or the common cold.

Dr Rochelle P. Walensky, the director of the CDC, noted on Tuesday that vaccinated people with so-called breakthrough infections of the Delta variant carry just as much virus in the nose and throat as unvaccinated people and may spread it just as readily, if less often.

Meanwhile, in a worrisome trend, India reported 44,230 daily new cases in the last 24 hours, highest tally in past three weeks. Kerala remained the highest contributor as the southern state saw more than 20,000 Covid cases for the fourth day in a row.

Kerala on Friday reported 20,772 new Covid cases. The state’s test positivity rate (TPR) rose to 13.61 per cent. Up to 116 people died of the disease. Its caseload touched 33,70,137 while fatalities hit 16,701, according to a government release.

Some of the worst-hit districts were Malappuram (3,670 cases), Kozhikode (2,470), Ernakulam (2,306), Thrissur (2,287), Palakkad (2,070), Kollam (1,415), Alappuzha (1,214), Kannur (1,123), Thiruvananthapuram (1,082), and Kottayam (1030), PTI reported.

About 116 people died of the disease. Its caseload touched 33,70,137 while fatalities hit 16,701, according to a government release.

Similarly, Assam reported 1,299 new positive cases, while Karnataka reported 2,052 new Covid-19 cases and 35 deaths.

Earlier, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote to Kerala government on “super spreader events” observed in Kerala recently, indirectly referring to relaxations given during Bakrid festival.

Rebutting all charges of laxity, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said that seroprevalence study by ICMR shows that almost 42% of people have antibodies in them, shows that our preventive mechanism was very good.

More than 50% of the total population is still unaffected. The type of Coronavirus which is spreading in this phase is Delta virus, the infectability is more. So, naturally, we are trying our best, the Kerala Health Minister added.

As per the data of Health Ministry, India’s active caseload now stands at 4,05,155 and active cases now constitute 1.28% of the country’s total Positive Cases. 

Weekly Positivity Rate is currently at 2.43% and the Daily Positivity rate stands at 2.44% today. Daily Positivity rate has remained below 5% for 53 consecutive days now, the data further read.