Second wave of Covid-19 is rapidly rising: Centre

The central government on Friday admitted that the present Covid19 situation in India has created stress on the country's health infrastructure. "The present situation has been creating a stress on India's health infrastructure," said Luv Aggrawal, Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry in New Delhi.

New Delhi: The central government on Friday has admitted that the present Covid19 situation in India has created stress on the country's health infrastructure.

"The present situation has been creating a stress on India's health infrastructure," said Luv Aggrawal, Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry in New Delhi.

He said that since April there was a sudden spike in the case with states like Delhi, Maharastra, Kerala, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat bearing the maximum number of cases.

Echoing the same view, Dr. Randeep Guleria, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) director said that the second wave is rapidly rising. "Doubling of cases is huge. The infection is reaching tier 2 and 3 cities. Such a huge number of cases is also putting stress on the country's hospital and health infrastructure," said Dr. Guleria. From 97,894 cases around September 19, India has witnessed a steep increase in April and the total figure is now stood at 379,257.

"India has been witnessing daily new cases of 8635 in a 7-day moving average," said Luv Aggrawal. The daily new deaths have also witnessed a sharp increase from 77 on March 6 to 3498 on April 30. Maharastra, Kerala, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Delhi have been witnessing more than 70 percent of deaths due to Covid19.

Luv Aggrawal said that 10 states including Maharastra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Delhi, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Gujarat have emerged as states of concern. Kerala, Maharastra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Delhi has registered more than 75 percent of active Covid cases.

The health ministry official, however, said that at a time when India has been witnessing the second wave of Covid19, many countries like the USA, Brazil and many others have reported the second wave as well as the third wave.

Aggrawal said that states like Maharastra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh have been reporting higher peaks than reported earlier whereas states like Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Odisha have not only reporting higher peaks but also high case growth trajectory. Aggrawal added that States were advised to monitor cases trajectory and plan future requirements of beds in Covid dedicated health facilities.

He has informed that 75 high levels and multidisciplinary teams deputed across 22 states and UTs since September 2020 to states and districts are reporting a surge in cases and provide supportive supervision to state and district administrations. The Joint Secretary said that 1,02,400 oxygen cylinders were procured in April-May last year and distributed to states.

He added that Health Ministry supported states by sanctioning 162 pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plants (154 mt capacity) across the country. "52 plants are already installed, 87 have been delivered and commissioning of all plants have been expedited," Aggrawal said.

He also informed that orders for 1,27,000 oxygen cylinders have been placed on April 21 and deliveries are expected to start by end of April.

Aggrawal said that oxygen is also being imported. "So far order for 200 mt oxygen has been placed on M/s SSB Cryogenic Singapore, 1800 mt on M/s Gulf Industrial Gases, Abu Dhabi and 1,500 mt on Ultra Pure Gases being sources from abroad," said Aggrawal. He said that the health ministry has also prohibited industrial use of oxygen with effect from April 22 except for certain specified industries. "This will increase to at least 1,000 metric tonnes of additional oxygen availability," added Dr Aggrawal.

Referring to the 3rd phase of Covid-19 vaccination from May 1, Aggrawal said that many states are expected to start the rollout for vaccination to all people above 18 years of age. "Like the earlier two phases, the number of states and beneficiaries in the third phase will also increase," claimed Aggrawal.

His statement assumes significance following the fact that many of the state governments have expressed their inability to start the 3rd phase of vaccination due to the shortage of vaccines. Aggrawal informed that to date, 12.55 crore people have received the first dose and 2.67 crore people received the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. The health ministry official claimed that the two kinds of approaches of a certain section of people have been creating a problem for the government.

"Misplaced bravery like Corona is a scam...misplaced fear like I need Remdesivir just in case I get the infection etc is creating a problem in our fight against Covid-19," said Aggrawal.