India recorded the highest number of deaths (1,260) globally from September 25-October 22, 2023, primarily due to retrospective adjustment, shows WHO data
Photo: iStock_ After a lull for many months, COVID-19 now considered an endemic respiratory illness, has registered a small uptick in cases across the country. On November 9 and November 10, 2023, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recorded nine and 14 new cases, respectively.
As of November 10, the number of active cases stood at 152. Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal have the highest active cases with 62, 33 and 23 cases, respectively.
The number of active cases in other states are Gujarat (7), Maharashtra (7), Tamil Nadu (6), Telangana (4), Delhi (2) and Odisha (2).
Just one active was reported each in Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Haryana Goa, Jammu and Nagaland.
India’s case fatality rate was at 1.19 per cent with 533,295 deaths and a 98.81 per cent survival rate with 44,467,986 cases discharged. The total vaccination stood at 22,06775,965.
Among countries globally, India recorded the highest number of new fatalities (1,260) for the period from September 25-October 22, 2023, primarily due to retrospective adjustment, according to the World Health Organization’s latest COVID-19 epidemiological update on October 27, 2023.
Other countries that recorded high deaths include Italy (560 new deaths; +36 per cent), the Russian Federation (172 new deaths; +237 per cent), Sweden (138 new deaths; +28 per cent) and Australia (120 new deaths; -22 per cent).
Over the same period, the Southeast Asia Region reported over 3,400 new cases, a 14 per cent increase as compared to the previous 28-day period. Among the countries for which data was available, India reported 2,527 new cases.
The highest numbers of new cases were reported from India (2,527 new cases; <1 new case per 100,000 people; Thailand (636 new cases; <1 new case per 100,000 people) and Bangladesh (221 new cases; <1 new case per 100,000 people), the WHO update added.
Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the National Indian Medical Association COVID Task Force, told Down to Earth, “The few new reported cases do not necessarily reflect a large caseload in the country. Unlike some other nations, India has been enjoying a period of low tide for months, so justifying the high cost of testing and getting people to comply is not easy. To know accurate caseloads, data from tertiary referral hospitals, airport surveillance and research centres have to be collected. Wastewater surveillance can also provide a prior warning about ten days in advance, as of now there is no signal.”
Nonetheless, we must keep a tab on the cases so that people are aware the disease is still lurking, Jayadevan added, expressing concern for vulnerable segments of the population.
Experts had feared that a new version of Omicron called BA 2.86, armed with numerous new mutations, could increase infections. As the virus relentlessly tweaks and changes its genomic sequence, it could spread widely in the coming months.
"However, currently, descendants of XBB (an earlier recombinant version of Omicron) are constituting about 97 per cent of the variants globally. They have been present for over a year and have not been outcompeted or displaced by BA.2.86 descendants like JN.1,” Jayadevan said
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