Be alert, Covid not over yet

India’s Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya yesterday said Covid-19 is not over yet and asked people to be on alert.

Mandaviya chaired a review meeting with health officials on the Covid-19 situation amid a spurt in global cases and said the government is prepared to manage any situation.

“Covid is not over yet. I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance. We are prepared to manage any situation,” the minister tweeted after the review meeting.

Meanwhile, Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, NITI Aayog has urged people to use a mask in crowded spaces, both indoors and outdoors. The use of masks is all the more important for people with comorbidities or of higher age, he added.

India has reported three cases of Omicron sub-variant BF.7, the strain reportedly driving China’s current surge of Covid-19 cases, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The first case of BF.7 in India was detected in October by Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre. So far, two cases have been reported from the western state of Gujarat while one case has been reported from eastern state of Odisha, official sources said.

In Beijing, dozens of hearses queued outside a crematorium yesterday, even as China reported no new Covid-19 deaths in its growing outbreak, sparking criticism of its virus accounting as the capital braces for a surge of cases.

The abrupt change of policy has caught a fragile health system unprepared and hospitals are scrambling for beds and blood, pharmacies for drugs, and authorities are racing to build special clinics. Experts predict China could face more than a million Covid deaths next year.

At a crematorium in Beijing’s Tongzhou district, a Reuters witness saw a queue of about 40 hearses waiting to enter while the parking lot was full.

Inside, family and friends, many wearing traditional white clothing and headbands of mourning, gathered around about 20 coffins awaiting cremation. Staff wore hazmat suits and smoke rose from five of the 15 furnaces.

There was a heavy police presence outside the crematorium.