Next 40 days crucial as India may see COVID cases surge in mid-January: Health Ministry Sources

New Delhi [India], December 28 (ANI): The next 40 days will be crucial as India may see a surge of COVID cases in mid of January, said Union Health Ministry sources on Wednesday.

The sources said the assessment had been made after analysing the previous trends of the COVID surge the country experienced. As there have been reports of a surge in COVID cases in some countries, the operational readiness of health facilities is being reviewed in all States and Union Territories in case of another wave.

Notably, two passengers coming from Dubai tested positive for the COVID infection at Chennai airport on Wednesday.

“Two passengers who arrived from Dubai tested positive at the Chennai airport today. Both of them hailed from the Alangudi district of Tamil Nadu’s Pudukkottai. Their test samples have been sent to State Public Health Laboratory,” said Tamil Nadu Health Department said.

At least 39 international travellers have tested positive for COVID infection between December 24-26 as the random testing of international passengers arriving at the airports is being done

“The total number of international flights screened in the last three days ie December 24, December 25 and December 26 is 498. The number of samples collected for COVID-19 testing is 1,780.

The cumulative number of samples collected is 3,994. The cumulative number of samples testing positive is 39 and the cumulative number of samples sent for whole genome sequencing is 39,” sources told ANI on Tuesday.

In light of the surge in COVID in some countries, hospitals across India conducted a Mock drill for COVID. The purpose of the mock drill was to evaluate COVID preparedness in terms of resources, protocol and personnel.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya went to the Safdarjung Hospital to observe the Mock drill on Tuesday.

“To make sure there is not a COVID surge in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked us to be careful. The government is also preparing if the Covid cases increase. Today mock drills are conducted across Covid hospitals in the country to make sure people get proper treatment,” the Union Health Minister said at Safdarjung hospital.

This came after four international travellers from Myanmar tested positive for COVID infection at the Delhi airport.

Meanwhile, India recorded 188 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.

India’s active caseload currently stands at 3,468 which accounts for 0.01 per cent of the total cases. The recovery rate currently is at 98.8 per cent. As many as 141 recoveries were made in the last 24 hours, thereby taking the total recoveries to 4,41,43,483

The daily positivity rate stood at 0.14 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate is at 0.18 per cent.

A total of 90,529 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours.
On the COVID-19 vaccination front, the government data informed that over 220.07 crore vaccine doses had been administered so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.