(TibetanReview.net, Apr15’22) – As the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) reported a third successive week of zero Covid-19 cases among Tibetans in the Indian Subcontinent, infections have been rising in parts of India in recent days, leading to increase in active cases. Also, the World Health Organization has warned that the pandemic still remains a global emergency. In China, where the pademic’s outbreak began in late 2019, cases are at an all-time high and continuing to increase especially in the latest epicentre Shanghai, China’s financial capital.
There are currently no active Covid-19 cases and none in quarantine in Tibetan communities in India and Nepal, the CTA’s Central Covid Taskforce Committee has said in its latest briefing Apr 15.
* * *
Meanwhile India on Apr 14 reported a rise in active Covid-19 caseload for the first time in 80 days, increasing from 10,870 to 11,058 in the 24-hour period.
This came amid an uptick in new cases and test positivity rates in at least three States—Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana, reported moneycontrol.com Apr 14.
Overall, 18 states and Union Territories in India were stated to have reported a rise in active cases in the 24-hour period.
The country reported 949 new cases during the past 24 hours this morning. Active cases constituted 0.03% of the total, with the daily positivity rate standing at 0.26% and the weekly at 0.25%. The case fatality rate was 1.21%.
* * *
As many nations relaxed public health and social measures, and drastically reduced testing for the virus, the WHO’s group of experts has said the pandemic was far from being at an end.
“The circulation of the virus is still very active, mortality remains high and the virus is evolving in an unpredictable way,” the AFP Apr 13 quoted committee chair Didier Houssin asa saying at a press conference.
The committee, which meets every three months, has concluded that the pandemic still constituted a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) – the highest level of alert that the WHO can sound.
* * *
In China, anti-virus controls that had shut down some of China’s biggest cities and fueled public irritation were spreading as infections rose, hurting a weak economy and prompting warnings of possible global shockwaves, reported the AP Apr 15.
Shanghai was stated to be easing rules that confined most of its 25 million people to their homes after complaints they had trouble getting food. But most of its businesses were stated to be still closed. Access to Guangzhou, an industrial center of 19 million people near Hong Kong, was stated to have been suspended this week. Other cities were reported to be cutting off access or closing factories and schools.
The Chinese government reported 29,411 new cases on Apr 14, all but 3,020 with no symptoms. Shanghai accounted for 95% of that total, or 27,719 cases. All but 2,573 had no symptoms, noted the report.
A health official had warned Apr 13 that Shanghai didn’t have the virus under control despite its easing restrictions. Some 6.6 million people were allowed to leave their homes in areas that had no new cases for at least a week. But at least 15 million others still are barred from going outdoors, the report said.