Covid concern

Rising cases in a few states shouldn't warrant concern but we should be prepared

- 

Following an uptick in Covid infections in Singapore and Hong Kong, India is also experiencing fresh cases of late. However, there is no warrant for panic as the numbers are low relative to the size of the population. According to the Covid-19 dashboard of the ministry of health and family welfare, India currently has 257 active cases in states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Gujarat. It is early days to assess whether the variants of the coronavirus infections in the country are similar to those in Singapore and Hong Kong. These can be reliably known by careful monitoring through genomic surveillance. It is also premature to infer whether the rising cases are related to waning immunity as most people received vaccines a long time ago. India is one of the success stories in this regard as the share of population that received all doses under the initial Covid-19 vaccination protocol was as high as 67% according to Our World in Data.