A warning about the new variant of Covid “Arcturus”, which is causing a massacre in India
A new strain of Covid virus dubbed “Arcturus” is wreaking havoc in India.
The new variant, technically called sub-variant XBB.1.16, is driving a new surge in Covid cases in the country with the number of infections rising 13-fold in the past month.
The rise in cases prompted India’s health ministry to run mock drills this week to check how prepared hospitals are to handle a potential influx of patients.
And some states have reinstated face masks in public, the first time in more than a year in some areas.
India’s health ministry said there were 40,215 active Covid cases on April 12, up by 3,122 cases in just one day.
The new variant of Covid ‘Arcturus’ has led to a significant increase in cases in India over the past month
While the spike is of some concern, it still falls far short of the devastating wave of cases the country saw in 2021 from the delta wave.
Separate figures from Oxford University’s platform Our World in Data show new daily cases reached 3,108 on April 4, up from 242 one month earlier.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently monitoring XBB.1.16, which was first detected in late January, as officials said it has some worrisome mutations.
It’s been circulating for a few months now,” said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, technical chief for Covid at the World Health Organization.
We haven’t seen a change in severity in individuals or in populations, but that’s why we have these systems in place.
“It has one additional spike protein mutation that has been shown in laboratory studies to increase infectivity as well as potentially increase pathogenicity.”
Haryana, in northern India, has reintroduced masks in public due to a ‘significant rise’ in Covid cases.
Veena George, health minister of the southern state of Kerala, on Saturday reintroduced masks to pregnant women, the elderly and those with underlying conditions.
On Monday and Tuesday, hospitals across India took part in mock drills to test their readiness.
Officials have also asked states to ramp up testing.
The exercises and the return of masks are a grim reminder of how the delta wave has devastated 2021 with a total of 4.7 million excess deaths, according to WHO estimates.
India’s health system has been overwhelmed by a wave of cases caused by this type of covid virus with some hospitals running out of oxygen.
