Low COVID-19 Infection Rates in India

Source-This post on Low COVID-19 Infection Rates in India is based on the article “Covid virus is still here. Why aren’t more people falling ill?” published in “The Indian Express” on 6th May 2024.

Why in the News?

On May 5, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that Covid-19 was no longer a global public health emergency. This marks the end of the pandemic.

Key Reasons for Low COVID-19 Infection Rates

i) Reduced Testing: Fewer people getting tested, and this may lead to low detection of COVID-19 cases.

ii) Natural Immunity and Vaccination: The Omicron variant (which was highly transmissible but less severe) and widespread vaccination by the end of 2021, has enabled a significant portion of the global population to acquire natural immunity.

iii) Limited Virus Evolution: Natural infection and vaccination have spread so widely that they have limited the virus’s opportunities to evolve into new and more dangerous variants. Also, the virus has not mutated into more severe forms recently, which helps manage the health risk it poses.

iv) Enhanced Scientific Understanding: Improved knowledge among scientists and public health experts about COVID-19 has increased their capacity to anticipate its behavior and implement effective control measures.

Current situation of COVID

1. India continued to see the virus in circulation. The JN.1 variant, which is a descendant of Omicron, is now the most common strain. It is more infectious than previous variants but generally does not cause severe disease.

2. Recent WHO data up to April 14 shows that globally, over 2.42 lakh cases were reported, with significant numbers in Russia and New Zealand. About 3,000 of those cases were in India, where testing remains limited.

3. Key institutes like the National Institute of Virology in Pune and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad continue to monitor the virus. They use methods including wastewater surveillance, which has also detected the JN.1 variant in India.

UPSC Syllabus: Science and technology (Health)