India logged 3,17,532 new coronavirus infections, the highest in 249 days, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,82,18,773, which includes 9,287 cases of the Omicron variant. There has been a 3.63 per cent increase in Omicron cases since Wednesday. Experts said it is not possible to undertake genome sequencing of each and every sample but stressed that the current wave is largely being driven by Omicron.

The active cases rose to 19,24,051, the highest in 234 days, while the death toll climbed to 4,87,693 with 491 fresh fatalities. The active cases comprise 5.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 93.09 per cent. An increase of 93,051 cases has been recorded in the span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 16.41 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 16.06 per cent.

With the massive spike in new cases, state governments have already imposed sweeping restrictions to contain the spread of the Omicron, the new variant which is said to be 3 times more infectious than the Delta variant, which led the devastating second wave of COVID-19 in India. However, the Central government has not hinted towards a nationwide lockdown as of now and has advised state governments to impose curbs at the local level.

Meanwhile, Dr PN Arora, MD, Yashoda Hospital, Ghaziabad, in a conversation with Dainik Jagan explained although due to Omicron, the number of coronavirus patients in the country has increased significantly, so far it has not been proved to be fatal like the delta variant.

Dr Arora further said if we go by the formula of the first lockdown, then the central government should impose lockdown by now. This would allow the speed of infection to be controlled. Nevertheless, such a decision may have a negative impact on the economy and therefore, the government is said to be refraining from imposing lockdown considering the severity of the virus and low hospitalisation.

Meanwhile, the health infrastructure in the country has increased significantly as compared to the second wave. As of now, there are about 18.03 lakh isolation beds in the country. Apart from this, arrangements for 1.24 lakh ICU beds, and 3,236 oxygen plants have also been made. The country appears to be prepared to deal with the third wave more promptly than the previous wave.

What WHO has to say on Lockdown in India:

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that despite the third wave of coronavirus in India, there is no need to impose a full lockdown in the country. In a country like India, steps like full lockdown and complete restrictions on travel can cause harm to the livelihood of people. The health organization has given a new formula for the lockdown. WHO has said that India should make a strategy to impose restrictions according to the risk to fight the third wave.

WHO’s India representative further said if all the dos and don’ts are followed, there is no need for lockdowns. In the current scenario, Ofrin explained, the existing tools and solutions to COVID such as “expanding vaccination coverage, using masks, maintaining hand hygiene, physical distancing, ventilation of indoor spaces and crowd avoidance” continue to be effective. If these are followed strictly, there is no need for lockdown, he maintained.