(TibetanReview.net, Jan21’22) – As the active number of Covid-19 cases in India hit 2,018,825 this morning, the highest in the past eight months, with the weekly positivity rate touching 16.65%, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) reported 474 new cases among Tibetans in the Indian subcontinent in the past one week as of Jan 21, compared to 429 reported for the previous week.
With it, the cumulative total of reported cases among Tibetans in India touched 7,963, with 7,144 having recovered, 162 died and 657 remaining active, according to the CTA’s Covid-19 taskforce while addressing its 95th weekly briefing. This means there has been no Covid death in the past week.
The positive cases were stated to have been detected from the testing of 1,551 Tibetans in 16 Tibetan settlements in India and 4 in Nepal, which means a weekly positivity rate of 30.56%.
Regarding the Covid-19 situation in India, the indianexpress.com Jan 20 quoted Dr VK Paul, head of India’s Covid-19 taskforce, as saying: “The pandemic situation shows that the third surge is now spreading in almost all parts of the country. It is also clear that the deaths are low. Vaccination has acted as a shield…the mortality is significantly low…However, the overall positivity of 16% is quite high. There are some states with 50% percent positivity (Goa) … the virus is spreading rapidly. Vaccination and masking have to be adopted. We cannot lower the guard.”
The report said India’s health ministry had specifically flagged six states that continued to remain areas of concern due to increase in the weekly positivity rate in the week ending Jan 20, compared to the weekly positive rate reported in the week ending Jan 13: Maharashtra (20.35% vs 22.12%); Karnataka (6.78% vs 15.12%); Tamil Nadu (10.70% vs 20.50%); Kerala (12.28% vs 32.34%); Delhi (21.70% vs 30.53%) and Uttar Pradesh (3.32% vs 6.33%).
With the addition of 3,47,254 new cases over the past 24 hours, India’s Covid-19 tally touched 38,566,027 this morning, with active cases constituting 5.23% of the total. The case fatality stood at 1.27%. And the daily positivity rate was reported to be 17.94% and the weekly 16.65%.
India this week extended the ban on regular international flight services till the end of Feb 2022.