(TibetanReview.net, Jan14’22) – In the backdrop of reports that more than 200 Tibetans in Dharamsala had tested Coronavirus positive and 90% of the 300 Tibetan sweater sellers in Jamshedpur city in India’s Jharkhand state had also tested positive over the past three days or so, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said Jan 13 that there had been 429 fresh cases among Tibetans in India during the past one week.
This was more than the 80 reported during the previous week by the CTA’s Covid taskforce at its 93rd weekly briefing, meaning there has been a 436% weekly increase. The highly infectious Omicron variant is suspected to be the driving force behind the current steep rise in cases among Tibetans.
The latest weekly total is based on the testing of 1,531 Tibetans in 16 Tibetan settlements in India, the CTA’s Covid taskforce has said at its 94th weekly briefing Jan 13, which makes for a positivity rate of 28%.
The cumulative total of Tibetan Covid-19 cases now stands at 7,489, of which 6,832 have recovered while 495 are active. The number of those who have died has remained unchanged at 162.
Meanwhile India has witnessed a 6.7% jump in daily new Covid cases this morning, adding 2.64 lakh new infections over the last 24 hours, the highest in 239 days, data from India’s Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, updated this morning, show.
Deaths from Covid have risen by 315, with total fatalities now at 485,350.
Active cases in India, comprising 3.48% of the total, have increased to 12,72,073, the highest in 220 days, noted the ndtv.com Jan 14.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 14.78% while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 11.83%.
