The current Covid situation in India does not justify restricting foreign flights or imposing a lockdown, but there is a need for increased vigilance and vigilance given the situation in some countries, experts said.
They also said that a new outbreak of severe Covid cases and hospitalizations is unlikely as Indians have “hybrid immunity,” i. e. , herbal immunity due to vaccination-boosted infection.
“Overall, there is no increase in the number of Covid cases and India is currently in a comfortable situation. Under the current circumstances, there is no need to limit foreign flights or impose a lockdown,” Dr. Randeep Guleria, former director of AIIMS, told PTI on Friday.
The past shows that banning flights is not effective in preventing the transmission of infections, he said. “In addition, knowledge suggests that the Omicron BF. 7 subvariant, which is causing the disease in China, has already been discovered in our country. “
When asked if there could be a lockdown in the coming days, Dr Guleria replied: “A new outbreak of severe Covid cases and hospitalisations is unlikely as the Indian population already enjoys hybrid immunity due to a very smart vaccination policy and herbal infection.
“Given the current scenario and the appropriate degree of hybrid immunity among the population, a lockdown seems necessary,” Dr. Guleria said.
Dr. Neeraj Gupta, a professor in the Department of Pneumology, Intensive Care and Sleep Medicine at Safdarjung Hospital, said that India wishes to proceed cautiously given the COVID-19 cases in China and some other countries, but that a “lockdown-type scenario” is not envisaged in the short or long term, given the existing scenario in India.
“Covid-friendly behaviours need to be reinforced, as complacency has set in due to the very low number of positive Covid cases. We cannot, given the global situation, as the pandemic is not over yet,” he said.
He added that “hybrid immunity” makes the user safer from long-term infections, with benefits in terms of morbidity and mortality.
“India has merit to citizens taking voluntary measures such as prevention, early diagnosis and a vaccination strategy,” he told PTI.
He also opined that China is relatively more vulnerable today, likely due to low natural immunity, a “poor vaccination strategy that prioritizes young and healthy people over the older and vulnerable population, and lower vaccine efficacy. “
Its population will be less immune and more vulnerable also because of the country’s strict containment mechanism, he said.
Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya, a physician and epidemiologist, said the experience of the past three years has shown that while restrictions have delayed the transmission of the virus, they no longer have any role to play.
In fact, it prevents transmission, and as a new variant is detected, it’s already reaching other parts of the world, he said.
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“We saw it a year ago with the Omicron variant. Obviously, bans no longer play any role. And secondly, India already has more than 250 Omicron subvariants. And therefore the most rational technique is random sampling, with no guarantees and minimal inconvenience to passengers, to incoming foreign passengers. The purpose would be to track emerging covid subvariants,” he said.
The current Covid situation in India is on the decline and there is no explanation for panicking, said Dr. N. K. Arora, chairman of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI).
However, he added that people deserve to behave in Covid and those who are eligible deserve to take the precautionary dose.
Amid a surge in Japan, the United States of America, South Korea, Brazil, France, and China, India has stepped up surveillance and genome sequencing of covid-positive samples.
Lately, Chinese cities are being hit by the highly transmissible Omicron strain, basically BF. 7, which is the main variant spreading in Beijing and is contributing to a wider accumulation of infections in that country.
BF. 7 is a sublineage of the Omicron BA. 5 variant and is infectious, because it is highly transmissible. Its incubation period is shorter and its ability to cause reinfection or infect even other vaccinated people is greater.
In addition, 97 percent of India’s eligible population has received the first dose, while 90 percent have also received the second dose.
But 27% of the eligible population took the precautionary dose.
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