DNA Special: India looking at second COVID-19 wave on 1st anniversary of lockdown

Last year on March 24, a nationwide lockdown was imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and it saw one of the biggest human exoduses since Independence. However, even as the situation is only slightly better this year, people have become casual in their attitude in dealing with the pandemic.

In India, on March 15, 2020, 100 people were corona positive-there were 525 positive cases on March 24, 2020, the day the lockdown was decided and the case reached one thousand on March 29. In September 2020 the country saw the highest number of corona cases, and the lowest in February 2021. But India is now reeling under the second wave of coronavirus infection.

Currently, the total active case in India is 3,68,000. More than 47,000 new cases have been registered in the last 24 hours. In India, 275 people have died in the last 24 hours.

India set many examples of self-sufficiency in battling the coronavirus infection successfully.

Not a single PPE kit was made in India until March last year, now we are fully self-sufficient when it comes to masks, gloves and PPE kits. Today, as many as 5 lakh PPE kits are being made daily in India.

There were a total of 40,000 ventilator beds in India in 2019 which have now become one lakh. Last year, 60,000 ventilators were procured.

As many as 5 crore doses of corona vaccine have been given to people in India and we have also supplied vaccines to 71 countries.

The exodus of labourers in India emerged as a major problem during the lockdown. According to a report by the Pew Research Centre in the United States, more than 3 crore middle-class people suffered the most. However, the government and the people together dealt with the issue and kept the country afloat. 

However, today once again Corona cases are on a rise in the country. Coronavirus does not know the boundaries of states and cities. By the time we are showing you this news, steps like lockdown, night curfew and imposition of section 144 have been taken in 8 states of the country.

The habit of overcrowding and not wearing masks have given a conducive atmosphere to the corona epidemic. The second major reason is the mutation of the virus, the new incarnation of the virus.

Today, the Health Ministry cautioned about the new hazardous variant of the corona present in India. Before we tell you in detail about the danger of a new incarnation of the virus - you should know how and why the virus changes its appearance.

When the virus is transmitted – that is, when it moves from one to the other and from the other to the other, it replicates, which gives rise to a new virus, and changes its appearance. In the language of science, it is called a mutation.

According to the data released by the Health Ministry today, the coronavirus in India is currently flourishing in a new incarnation in more than 700 people. Out of these cases, 20 per cent are those who are very dangerous and have the capacity to double attack. Good immunity is also not able to work on this dangerous variant of the virus. And the speed of infecting the new virus is also very fast. The following report will show your new incarnation of the virus.

Union Health Ministry informed today: "The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG) is a grouping of 10 National Laboratories that was established by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt of India on December 25, 2020. INSACOG is since then carrying out genomic sequencing and analysis of circulating COVID-19 viruses, and correlating epidemiological trends with genomic variants. Genomic variants of various viruses are a natural phenomenon and are found in almost all countries." "Since INSACOG initiated its work, 771 variants of concerns (VOCs) have been detected in a total of 10787 positive samples shared by States/UTs. These include 736 samples positive for viruses of the UK (B.1.1.7) lineage. 34 samples were found positive for viruses of the South African (B.1.351) lineage. 1 sample was found positive for viruses of the Brazilian (P.1) lineage. The samples with these VOCs have been identified in 18 states of the country," the ministry's release added. On March 19, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, while speaking in Lok Sabha, said no one should have any doubts about the COVID-19 vaccines. He also urged everyone to take the vaccine doses without fear.

After receiving a new corona strain in the UK in the month of December 2020, the health ministry created a network of 10 labs. These labs have been sequencing the genome to capture different variants of coronavirus in India continuously since December.