Covid cases plateauing in parts of India, but risk persists, says WHO

New Delhi, January 29

While some cities or states in India may be beginning to see plateauing of Covid-19 cases, the risk persists and focus must be on reducing transmission and implementing situation-specific measures, senior WHO official Poonam Khetrapal Singh said. The Health Ministry had said on Thursday early indications of Covid cases plateauing had been reported in certain geographies in the country but the trend needs to be observed.

Responding to a question that cases have started plateauing in India, Dr Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, said the risk of Covid-19 remained high and no country, irrespective of their current transmission scenario, is “out of the woods” yet.

“Hence, even though some cities or states may be beginning to see plateauing of cases, the risk persists. We need to continue to remain vigilant. Our focus must be on reducing transmission. Implementing situation-specific public health and social measures and increasing vaccine coverage – that’s the way forward for all countries in the ongoing pandemic,” said Singh. On January 21, the country reported a total of 3,47,254 new Covid-19 cases after which the daily infection count has been reducing. —