New Delhi: India has reported a 25 per cent rise in new COVID-19 cases and a 53 per cent rise in coronavirus-related deaths in the last week of June, according to the epidemiological update on COVID-19 issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to the world health body, the highest number of new cases in the South-East Asia region were reported from India in the last week of June. India recorded 93,281 new cases, averaging 6.8 new cases per 100,000, indicating a 25 per cent hike. Even the highest numbers of new deaths in the South-East Asia region were reported from India, the WHO said. As many as 144 new deaths, a 53 per cent increase, were recorded in India as compared to the previous week, it added.
The union health ministry data shows that there has been a persistent rise in Covid cases in June. The test positivity rate (TPR), a vital marker in assessing the spread of an outbreak, continued to cross over 2 per cent.
TPR touched 3.71 per cent in the last week of June, said Krishna Prasad N. C, a Covid data analyst based in Kerala. From June 10 to 16, the TPR was 2.46 per cent, while from June 17 to 23, it touched 3.25 per cent, he said. From June 3 to 9, the TPR was 2.46 per cent.
As three new and highly transmissible offspring of Omicron’s BA.2 sub-variant have been detected in India, experts believe these could be behind the surge in Covid cases in India. These sub-lineages are BA.2.74, BA.2.75 and BA.2.76, The New Indian Express reported.
The BA.2.75, belonging to the BA.2 sub-lineage, which was the dominant strain in India earlier this year, has been found to have an 18 per cent growth advantage over the other currently circulating Omicron sub-variants, BA.4 and BA.5.
