India’s COVID-19 variant of global concern, says WHO
India reports 366,161 cases, 3,754 deaths; dozens of COVID-19 corpses found in Ganga in Buxar; ‘Black fungus’ complication adds to India’s woes; Ater beds, oxygen, Delhi now staring at vaccine shortage
A COVID-19 variant spreading in India, which is facing an explosive outbreak, appears to be more contagious and has been classified as being “of concern”, the World Health Organisation said on Monday.
The UN health agency said the B.1.617 variant of COVID-19 first found in India last October seemed to be transmiting more easily than the original version of the virus, and might possibly have some increased resistance to vaccine protections.
“There is some available information to suggest increased transmissibility of the B.1.617,” Maria Van Kerkove, the WHO’S lead on COVID-19, told reporters, also pointing to early studies “suggesting that there is some reduced neutralisation.”
“As such we are classifying this as a variant of concern at the global level,” she said, adding that more details would be provided in the WHO’S weekly epidemiological update on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Indian coronavirus infections and deaths held close to record daily highs on Monday, increasing calls for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lock down the world’s second-most populous country.
The 366,161 new infections and 3,754 deaths reported by the health ministry were off a litle from recent peaks, taking India’s tally to 22.66 million with 246,116 deaths as hospitals run out of oxygen and beds and morgues and crematoria overflow.
Experts have said India’s actual figures could be far higher than reported.
Dozens of bodies believed to be COVID-19 victims have washed up on the banks of the Ganges river in northern India, officials said on Monday.
Local official Ashok Kumar said that about 40 corpses washed up in Buxar district near the border between Bihar and Utar Pradesh, two of India’s poorest states.
“We have directed concerned officials to dispose of all bodies, to either bury or cremate them,” Kumar told reporters.
Some media reports said the number of corpses could be as high as 100.
Locals say that they believed the bodies had been dumped in the river because cremation sites were overwhelmed or because relatives could not afford wood for funeral pyres.
The Indian government has told doctors to look out for signs of mucormycosis or “black fungus” in COVID-19 patients as hospitals report a rise in cases of the rare but potentially fatal infection.
The state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said at the weekend that doctors treating COVID-19 patients, diabetics and those with compromised immune systems should watch for early symptoms including sinus pain or nasal blockage on one side of the face, one-sided headache, swelling or numbness, toothache and loosening of teeth.
The disease, which can lead to blackening or discolouration over the nose, blurred or double vision, chest pain, breathing difficulties and coughing blood, is strongly linked to diabetes. And diabetes can in turn be exacerbated by steroids such as dexamethasone, used to treat severe COVID-19.
Ater batling for hospital beds and oxygen for nearly a month amid the raging second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the national capital is now struggling to get adequate supply of vaccines.
The Aam Aadmi Part (AAP) led Delhi government said on Monday that the city is not geting adequate supply of vaccines and the stocks of Covaxin in Delhi would run out in the next 24 hours, while the stocks of Covishield are likely to get exhausted in the next three to four days.
“Delhi has stocks for just one day for one, and for three or four days for the other vaccine. Covaxin stock will last a day and Covishield for three or four days,” Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Monday.
Meanwhile, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that the Centre has replied that the national capital will get only 3.5 lakh doses of vaccine in May against its demand for around 3 crore vaccines in the next three months.
With experts saying the coronavirus is likely spreading in India’s northeastern state of Assam faster than anywhere else in the country, authorities were preparing Monday for a surge in infections by converting a massive stadium and a university into hospitals.