Covid-19 numbers remain at a low ebb but pandemic is far from over. In fact on Monday, there was a worrisome 90 per cent jump in daily Covid numbers in India but India on Tuesday logged 1,247 fresh cases, according to the health ministry data. The coronavirus cases have been fluctuating, while mostly on a downward trend, for the past few weeks as governments slowly started lifting pandemic restrictions.
The number of infections April 19 was almost 43 per cent less than the previous day when India saw a spike of 2,075 cases in a day, the first time in nearly a month.
Last week’s average of daily cases in India saw jump—from 996 for the week ended Friday to 1,264 new cases for the week ended Monday.
After a dreadful third wave of Covid-19 pandemic that pushed the daily tally above the 3-lakh mark in January, coronavirus cases have significantly dropped in the county. However, a new threat arose due to the rising rate of infections in neighbouring China and several European countries. This suggests a need for guard. Even as experts have cautioned against reading too much into infection numbers alone especially when hospitalisation and death rates have not risen, they have ascribed the rise to the opening up of economic activities and the easing of mask rules by centre. In Jammu and Kashmir, cases mostly remain restricted to single digit but fluctuating trend continues amid significant drop in number of daily tests.
Also experts feel that there is an increase in social gatherings, refusal to wear masks, poor personal hygiene, ignorance and reluctance to vaccinate and all these are contributing to the rising COVID cases.
The experts are unanimous that COVID appropriate behavior as recommended by the World Health Organisation will go a long way to contain the spread of the disease. It is as such imperative that people restart wearing masks and proper ventilation without waiting for the government to make them take the measures.
Whether or not mask mandates are enforced at the government level, it is important for people to understand that the use of masks remains one of the most useful means to fight the pandemic at a micro-level and is one of the few Covid-19-prevention measures over which there is little-to-no debate in the scientific community. As such there is a need to keep up the guard and take all measures which will keep the virus at bay.
