India may need to update its booster shots: Former AIIMS chief
Photo: iStock India recorded 5,676 fresh COVID-19 cases and 15 deaths as of 8 am April 11, 2023, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The country’s active caseload increased to 37,093. The fresh cases in the last 24 hours came from 196,796 samples tested during the period.
Kerala, which recorded over 1,800 new cases on April 10, has the highest number of active cases at 13,745, followed by Maharashtra (4,667), Delhi (2,338), Tamil Nadu (2,099) and Gujarat (1,932).
India’s daily and weekly positivity rates are 2.88 per cent and 3.81 per cent respectively.
A total of 358 doses of vaccines against COVID-19 were administered in the last 24 hours, the ministry showed. The current recovery rate in the country is 98.7 per cent.
The nationwide mock drills being conducted in hospitals entered the second day to assess the preparedness of healthcare systems in the face of rising cases. At least six states and Union territories have released new COVID-19 protocols, bringing back the mask mandate and making it compulsory for patients visiting hospitals to get tested for the virus.
Apart from relaxed COVID-19 safety norms and reduced testing leading to silent spread of the contagion, a new sub-lineage of omicron variant, XBB.1.16, is believed to be behind the latest case surge.
The variant is known to spread faster but cause fewer hospitalisations compared to previous lineages. Some physicians have reported new symptoms of an infection by this variant in children as well as adults.
The country may need to update its booster doses, like is done in case of flu shots, to protect against new and emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2, former chief of All India Institute Of Medical Science, Randeep Guleria, told the media.
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