India’s Covid-19 Task Force chief VK Paul on Monday said the government was concerned about the coronavirus situation in Mizoram, reported CNBC-TV18.
“We are concerned with Mizoram, which is a small state, [and has] relatively small numbers to look at but when you look at the population denominator per million, then Mizoram’s numbers are high and worrying,” he told CNBC-TV18.
Mizoram had witnessed a sharp rise in coronavirus cases around the beginning of October, when the state registered about 1,500-2,000 new infections daily. On October 2, the state had 16,361 active cases, contributing 6% of India’s total active case pool then.
At the time, eight out of 11 districts in Mizoram had more than 10% positivity rate. The positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus out of those who have been tested overall.
However, the numbers of cases have dropped now. On Monday, the state recorded 249 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the infection tally in the state since the pandemic broke out in January last year to 1,12,84, reported North East News. Monday’s infection tally was the lowest in two months.
Only the state’s positivity rate has not changed much, remaining at 10.11% on Monday.
On Monday, Paul, who is also a member of the Niti Aayog, said that the areas and states where positivity rate was high was dangerous for the whole country as Covid-19 could spread due to the movement of people and the way the virus transmits.
When asked about vaccinating children, Paul pointed out that the government’s focus was currently to inoculate all adults. He added that India was exploring to systematically vaccinate children with co-morbidities.
With regard to the entire country, Paul told CNBC-TV18 that India was in the “tapering phase” of the second wave of the coronavirus, but cautioned against taking things for granted.
On Monday, India recorded 13,596 new coronavirus cases, taking the infection count to 3,40,81,315. This is the lowest rise lowest daily rise in cases in 230 days, the health ministry said.
India has logged fewer than 20,000 single-day new infections for 10 days straight.
So far, 97,79,47,783 vaccine doses have been administered since the beginning of the inoculation drive in January. Presently, only people aged 18 and above are eligible for vaccination against Covid-19 in the country.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!