199 cases were reported in Karnataka, 148 in Kerala, 139 in Maharashtra, 47 in Goa, 36 from Gujarat, 30 each from Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, 26 in Tamil Nadu, 21 in New Delhi, 3 in Odisha, 2 in Telangana and one in Haryana.
The death toll was recorded at 5,33,396 with four new deaths--two from Kerala and one each in Karnataka and Tripura--reported in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am stated.
A single-day rise of 760 new cases of COVID were recorded in the country as two more deaths have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours--one each in Kerala and Karnataka, according to data provided by the Union Health Ministry on Thursday.
A 75-year-old man and a 20-year-old man were detected with the infection and both are in home isolation with mild symptoms, said Amit Malakar, nodal officer of the district unit of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme
Hospitals have been asked to screen people having symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI). Genome sequencing of suspected patients will be carried out. Nasal and throat samples of random patients having a recent hi story of travel will be sent to virus research and diagnostic laboratories.
Both the Chinese instance of avian influenza and the respiratory illness clusters pose low risk for India and prepared for any kind of exigency that may emerge from the current influenza situation in that country, the Union Health Ministry stated.
A district-wise analysis showed that Raigad reported highest 407 suspected cases in the state, followed by Wardha (167), Mumbai Suburban (155) and Nandurbar (113). Ahmednagar, Dhule, Gondia, Mumbai (town), Parbhani and Sindhudurg recorded no cases.
Over 50 suspected cases of influenza A virus H3N2 subtype have been tested in the district from March 18-25. Besides, nine active cases of COVID are under treatment, thus taking the total number of COVID cases to 71,469 since May 2020
Following an inter ministerial review meeting with the NITI Ayog, Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), issued a letter to the states and UTs alerted that an increasing trend of ILI/SARI being observed across the country. Observing that there has been an upswing of Influenza A cases observed since the latter half of December 2022, as per integrated sentinel-based surveillance of ILI and SARI. He mentioned that also gradual rise in the COVID-19 test positivity rates as a concerning issue that needs prompt attention.
Around 90 cases of the H3N2 virus have been reported in the country, as ICMR declared that H3N2 causes more hospitalisations than other subtypes. The Union Health Ministry is keeping a close watch on the seasonal Influenza situation in various States and UTs through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) network on a real-time basis. The Ministry is also tracking and keeping a close watch on morbidity and mortality due to the H3N2 subtype of Seasonal Influenza.
A community-based surveillance conducted by the government has found that all Omicron variants - from BA.2 and XBB to BQ.1 and their respective sub-lineages — are circulating in the country. However, on the brighter side, the surveillance report suggests that the presence of these variants has not led to any increase in either mortality or transmission of Covid-1.
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