Covid numbers creeping up in NCR, Gujarat

Doctors are seeing an uptick in Covid-19 cases in some areas - the first such turnabout in numbers after the third wave faded in India.

In a span of seven days, Delhi, Haryana and Gujarat have reported a rise in average daily Covid-19 cases even as countrywide numbers have dipped and are currently at a two-year low. Still, doctors said symptoms are broadly mild and hospitalisations are low.

Physicians at leading hospitals said that with schools reopening, they are seeing several children getting infected and possibly passing on the infection. Apart from this, masks are no longer mandatory in some states.

"After a lull period, some help calls have started coming in," said Sandeep Budhiraja, group medical director at Max Healthcare. "Clusters of cases in families of school-going children are developing. Fortunately, none of these patients have needed any investigations or hospitalisation. But yes, there is an uptick in the number of cases."
Schools have started reporting cases as a large chunk of the population below 12 years of age remains unvaccinated and unprotected.

On Tuesday, campuses of three schools - two in Ghaziabad and one in Noida - were closed after about 18 students tested positive for Covid-19.

Some Schools Shut Again
Another school in Noida reported 13 students and two teachers testing positive, after which the school was closed, health department officials said on Monday. "The numbers are picking up from what we saw two weeks back, as we return to normalcy. We have to be careful and testing needs to be intensified," said Suranjit Chatterjee, senior consultant, internal medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Delhi.

The Covid positivity rate in Delhi jumped to 2.7% from less than 1% about a week ago. Delhi on Saturday recorded 160 fresh Covid-19 cases while the positivity rate rose to 1.55%, according to data from the state health department. On Monday, the city recorded 137 cases, with positivity rising to 2.70% .

Neighbouring Haryana has witnessed a nearly 50% rise in cases in the past few days.

The health ministry has been tracking developments. Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya reviewed the Covid-19 situation on Tuesday with the country's key experts.

Experts said there was no cause for concern. "Some fluctuation in case numbers is to be expected but these are unlikely to blow up into a full-fledged new wave," said Gautam Menon, professor of physics and biology at Ashoka University.