New variant in India complicates COVID-19 fight

"The situation is far from normal, in fact it's alarming at the moment. The vaccination drive has to be sped up," said SudhanshuBankata, a doctor at a private hospital in the national capital. COVID-19 patients have been mounting for the past two weeks at the hospital where he works, he added.

"I think the sharp rise in newly confirmed cases in India tends to be closely related to resuming work and production before the pandemic has been effectively brought under control or conditions have been significantly improved in the country," said Li Jiasheng, a researcher from the Center for Asia-Europe Studies at Xi'an Jiaotong University.

"Out of the pressure of economic recovery and growth, people in India have been eager to return to normal work operations, and this has resulted in in a surge in the flow of people in various regions, bringing in a new wave of COVID-19 infections."

Li believes that there were no particular measures to cope with the situation, as in the current stage, there exists a conflict between the imperative of economic recovery and pandemic control in India. Unless the effective medical protection measures can be adopted and mass vaccination can be implemented as soon as possible, it will be hard to keep things in check, he mentioned.

Dr Bankata also believes tracing of variant mutants of the virus that causes COVID-19 could also be another reason behind the recent surge in cases.

Poor adherence to safety protocols is driving the new surge, said Mahesh Sharma, a member of Parliament in the BharatiyaJanata Party who represents the National Capital Region area and is also a doctor.

In the wake of rapid surge, several state governments have imposed stringent travel restrictions, while some other states have announced night curfews to slow down the rising number of cases.

Public celebrations and gatherings for upcoming festivals, including Holi, one of the biggest festivals of India, have been prohibited in Delhi and Mumbai amid a renewed surge in cases.

The Union ministry of home affairs on Tuesday issued a set of guidelines for the effective control of COVID-19. The guidelines, which will be effective from 1 April, has asked states and Union Territories to enforce the "test-track-treat" protocol and laid down containment measures. The suspension of international flights has been extended till April 30.

A senior doctor at All India Institute of Medical Science who wished to remain anonymous said all health officials are under pressure from the central government to aggressively ramp up testing and vaccination, especially in states where cases are mounting up.

The total number of doses administered across the country crossed 50 million on Tuesday night, said the health ministry.

Eight states - UP, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar, Kerala and Karnataka - accounted for 74 percent of the doses administered, according to the data available with the ministry.

In over two months since the start of the vaccination drive on Jan 16, India has administered only around 8.5 percent of its target of 600 million doses (to cover 300 million people) by the end of July.

The main reason for the pace would appear to be vaccine hesitancy, something the government is trying to address, a senior official of the health ministry said on condition of anonymity.