India sees a rise in Covid cases, know why and how the Covid-19 spread is on the rise again:
There has been an increase in coronavirus cases in India over the last two weeks. The maximum increase is seen in the state of Maharashtra. Every day of the last week, for the first time since mid-January, Maharashtra has reported more than 3,000 new cases of coronavirus infections.
The new cases in the second week of February were at least 14 percent more than the first. In the week ending this Sunday (February 14), 20,207 new cases were detected across the state. Mumbai, Pune, their surrounding areas along with the Vidarbha region have contributed the maximum to this surge.
Also, as per the reports, the South African and Brazilian mutant strains of coronavirus have entered India. Four people were detected with the South Africa variant in January, while one tested positive for the Brazil variant in the first week of February. The cases have emerged at a time there has been a sharp drop in the number of Covid cases in India, with just a few states like Maharashtra and Kerala battling a spike.
Why the sudden rise in cases?
One important reason could be the reopening of the local trains for the general public in the Mumbai region. For other states, the reason could be marriage functions and other family events that had to be postponed due to covid-19 last year but are happening now could also be contributing to the rise.
The Kent variant:
The Kent variant has already been detected in more than 50 countries. It is a more deadly and infectious mutant of coronavirus. The people and their contacts who have tested positive for new variants have been quarantined.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the new strains are more contagious and spread faster, and vaccines could be less effective on these patients, although there is no proof.
As many as 1,06,44,858 people have recovered from the disease so far. The Ministry added that more than 88.5 lakh COVID19 vaccine doses have been administered so far and more than 1.3 lakh vaccine doses were given on Tuesday.
