Beijing/New Delhi The new outbreak of Covid-19 cases across China’s mainland China as well as Hong Kong has triggered concerns about a fourth wave that may hit India in the near future or sooner. It’s worth noting that China’s Covid-19 cases increased by more than a third on Tuesday, compared to the prior day. It is currently facing the largest outbreak since the beginning in the pandemic.
The Chinese National Health Commission said that 3507 new locally transmitted cases were reported in the last 24 hours which was up from 1,337 just the previous day. A virus that spreads quickly, dubbed “stealth omicron” is being tested China’s zero tolerance strategy that has been used to keep the virus in check following an initial deadly outbreak in the early part of 2020.
The majority of new cases occurred in China’s northeastern Jilin province in Jilin province, where there were 2,601 cases reported. A few smaller outbreaks have been reported across the country, including in the cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
The Chinese authorities tightened on Tuesday security measures against viruses at ports which could lead to disruptions to trade after a few manufacturing facilities for electronics and automobiles have been shut down while the government fights outbreaks of coronavirus.
China’s latest Covid cases are not as high in comparison to other nations as well as Hong Kong. However, authorities are now implementing an ‘zero tolerance’ approach which aims to ensure that the virus is kept out of China.
It is temporarily shutting down large cities to search for all infected people. The restrictions are coming at a time where the world economy is suffering from Russia’s war against Ukraine as well as the surging price of oil and a weak demand for consumer goods.
With China having reported a significant increase in coronavirus infection and the doctor NK Arora, chairman of India’s Covid-19 Working Group of NTAGI has declared that Indians shouldn’t consider the illness “for granted” since new variations are possible at any time in
“Any level of complacency that we have now can be detrimental simply because the Omicron wave has subsided this early. We shouldn’t take it as a given and believe that nothing happens in the near future. New variations can be discovered every day,” Dr Arora said.
Dr. Arora added that INSACOG will likely to increase its surveillance. “The investigation of INSACOG is currently taking place in high-intensity. There is a plan to extend this INSACOG surveillance to sewage monitoring as polio does and the sewage samples will also be subject to an analysis for COVID viruses” the official said.
Concerning whether the current outbreak of COVID-19-related cases in China may be affecting India the country, he stated, “We are waiting for more information on the Chinese outbreak, whether it’s because of one of the circulated variants, or its sub-lineages or a new variant has been discovered.
“Further officials from health advised the public to stay alert to Covid-19 at all time. “One should be on guard all the time. As long as all countries around the globe are at the stage that we can declare that the pandemic is over. At the moment it is too early to undertake any of those actions,” he added.
China has also implemented a variety of guidelines to keep Covid-19 outbreaks from entering China since the first outbreak in the town of Wuhan in the early part of 2020, but the variant that is fast-growing is known as “stealth micron” is being tested by China’s zero-tolerance policy.