BENGALURU: The latest Covid-19 surge, possibly fuelled by the super-contagious Omicron variant, could last another month or more, health experts believe.

So intense has been the surge that the state’s active cases have risen by 28.68 per cent from 13,532 on Tuesday to 17,414 on Wednesday, while that of the state capital shot up by 29.23 per cent from 11,423 to 14,762 overnight.

Warning people to be watchful of the spike, Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said the next four to six weeks will be crucial and that the peak in cases needs to be watched out for.

“The state government, based on experts’ opinion, has imposed stricter restrictions to contain the surge. But the next four to six weeks are crucial and only if people cooperate can we help the situation from not getting any worse,” he said.

Third wave will not be for too long, says minister

Several studies, minister Sudhakar said, have shown that Omicron infects and multiplies 70 times faster than the Delta variant and the original SARS-CoV-2 in the human bronchus, which explains why Omicron may transmit faster between humans than the previous variants.

However, it is also seen that infection in the lung is significantly milder than the original SARS-CoV2, which may be an indicator of lower disease severity and hence, lesser admissions and deaths. The state on Wednesday reported just two deaths, both from Bengaluru.

Sudhakar said, “As we have observed worldwide, it is declining in five to six weeks. This wave will not be for too long, like in the first and second waves that were for three to four months.”

A mathematical model by Prof Siva Athreya of Indian Statistical Institute, Professor Rajesh Sundareshan of IISc, Bengaluru, and their team’s preliminary projections on Omicron has shown that in the best case scenario, there may be 40,000 cases per day and worst case will be around 1.2 lakh for Karnataka at the peak of the wave.

If 1 per cent of this population need hospitalisation, that will mean around 400 to 1,200 admissions per day, as per the prediction.

Well-known epidemiologist and public health expert Dr Giridhara Babu R said, “Based on the modelling results presented by Prof Athreya and Prof Sundaresan, we are likely to see the surge in the last week of January to first week of February. In the best case scenario of the model, assuming that the restrictions imposed from Wednesday are effective, the load on hospitalisation might be lower compared to Delta wave.”

He, however, said the infection with Omicron variant is not like getting vaccinated, and one should stay away from misinformation regarding this.

“It is best to avoid getting infected,” he said.

WHO Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan took to Twitter speaking on the Omicron situation in India, and said, “Omicron is NOT the common cold! Health systems can get overwhelmed. Important to have systems to test, advise and monitor large number of patients as the surge can be sudden and huge.”

GIRL DIES, CONTAINMENT ZONES RISE

Amid concerns of the third wave affecting children, a 15-year-old girl, who had comorbidities, died after testing positive for Covid-19 in Bengaluru.

However, Health Department officials said the death was not due to Covid-19 but due to other comorbid conditions for which the girl was admitted to hospital. The health bulletin from the Karnataka Health Department on Wednesday stated that she had symptoms of Influenza-Like Illness with symptoms of fever. She was a resident of Bengaluru and had immunocompromised disorder.

An official said, “She had a one-year history of intermittent headache and was admitted to the hospital when her condition deteriorated. She was shifted to a private hospital on January 3 where she developed cerebral problems. When a rapid test was done in the ICU, she tested positive for Covid-19.”

Meanwhile, the total active micro containment zones in the city went up to 182 with Mahadevapura having 57 , Bommanahalli 53 and West zone 20.

NEW DELHI: In the major Indian cities, the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is accounting for more than 50 per cent of the fresh cases of the infection and the massive surge in the number of cases over the last one week is indicative of a third wave of the pandemic, as is being witnessed in several countries, Dr N K Arora, the chairman of the COVID-19 working group of the NTAGI, said on Tuesday.

Omicron is being detected in most of the states in the country, he told PTI.

Noting that in the major metro centres and the surrounding regions, the new variant of the virus is accounting for over 50 per cent of the fresh cases, Arora said, “The galloping increase in the number of Covid cases over the last one week is indicative of the third wave, as is being seen in several other countries across the globe.”

He, however, stressed that there is no need to panic.

Arora said over 80 per cent of the people in the country have been infected with the virus naturally, more than 90 per cent of the adults have received at least one dose of an anti-Covid vaccine and over 65 per cent are fully vaccinated.

“If we look at the behaviour of the Omicron wave in South Africa, where it rapidly increased, in two weeks, the number of cases started coming down and most of the cases were either asymptomatic or had a mild illness, along with the decoupling of the total number of Covid cases vis-a-vis those requiring hospitalisation. All these factors indicate that the Omicron wave in South Africa may soon subside,” he said.

There are some epidemiological similarities between South Africa and India.

The natural infection rates in both the countries are very high, Arora pointed out, adding that however, the immunisation rates in India are several fold higher.

“In view of this, we may see a somewhat similar pattern in India as far as the third wave is concerned.”

“Looking at the behaviour of the Covid infection in the last seven to 10 days in India, I feel that we may be in for a third wave peak very soon,” he said.

Arora, however, asserted that there is no need to press the panic button.

“Those who are yet to take the vaccine or are partially immunised should get the jab for protection against severe disease and hospitalisation. Also, one should strictly follow Covid-appropriate behaviour,” he said.

A total of 1,892 Omicron cases have so far been detected across 23 states and Union territories in the country and of the patients, 766 have either recuperated or migrated, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.

Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of 568 Omicron cases, followed by Delhi (382), Kerala (185), Rajasthan (174), Gujarat (152) and Tamil Nadu (121).

With 37,379 fresh cases, India’s COVID-19 tally has climbed to 3,49,60,261, while the number of active cases of the infection has gone up to 1,71,830, according to the ministry’s data updated at 8 am.

Parmesh S Jain

The South Division police of Siddapura police opened fire at the accused of a robbery case who attacked a police constable in a bid to escape from custody in Banashankari 6th stage on Monday morning.

The accused has been identified as,Parvesh Pasha,21 and his associate identified as Abubakar,

Senior officer told media persons a complaint was registered in Siddapura police station by a 23-year-old private firm employee who stated in his complaint when he was passing near lalbagh two unknown miscreants confronted him and tried to snatch his mobile phone as the victim resisted the robbery of his phone near Lalbagh last wednesday .

The accused stabbed him multiple times before fleeing with the mobile and cash of Rs.1,000 and sped away in their scooter

The injured Fayaz Mohammed was admitted to the hospital and based on his complaint,A special team headed by Siddapura police inspector,Raju A and his team swung into action and with the help of technology skill the team tracked down the accused and arrested him on Sunday.

During investigation the accused was identified as,Pasha and he confessed the crime and told the police that he had dumped the weapon near a vacant site in Banashankari 6th stage for which a team of police escorted him to the place and went to secure the weapon used for the robbery in the early hours of Monday.

While the police are doing mahazar (spot inspection),Pasha used a wooden log to attack police constable,Parmeshwar Mabrukar to escape from the custody,Inspector Raju A,who was at spot warned him to stop by firing in the air but the accused dint heed to his warning and again tried to attack the inspector and to protect his life and his subordinate life he opened another round fire in self defense at his left leg to stop him from fleeing.

The police later shifted both the injured to hospital and were said to be out of danger .

We have registered one more case against Pasha charging him under attempt to murder and obstructing government servant from discharging duties against him and further investigation is on.

Finally Bengaluru Police Commissioner,Kamal Pant has appreciated Addl CP West,Sandeep Patil,DCP,South,Harish Pandey,ACP,BL Srinivasmurthy,PI,Raju A,and his staff as Parameshwar Mabrukar and others who has done a exemplary work and risked their life in nabbing the accused who attacked the staff in a bid to escape but the brave staff and PI has pinned him down by opening fire at his leg a special reward will be given to the team he added.

Parmesh S Jain

A police inspector,Sunil Naik of Madiwala police station has been suspended by commissioner of police Kamal Pant for taking bribe from a accused in Dowry harrasment case.

City police commissioner,Kamal Pant ordered and suspended an Inspector attached to Madiwala police station for taking money from the accused of a dowry case in return for showing an official favor.

The incident came to light when the accused approached the city police commissioner with the complaint against the inspector along with the audio and video recordings which had proof of the money given.

Taking cognisance,City police commissioner Kamal Pant directed the jurisdictional DCP to probe the matter and submit a report .

Based on the report,Mr.Pant suspended Sunil  Y Naik,pending inquiry for further action.

The accused officer Naik had arrested the accused in a dowry case based on the court direction.

However he took money from the accused to show official favors.When there was an increasing demand for more money,the accused approached the city police chief seeking help.

Parmesh S Jain

Atleast eight was injured in an two separate explosion followed by fire due to suspected LPG Cylinder leakage in Chandra Layout and attiguppe on Monday.

The injured persons who are undergoing treatment are,Mahesh,Sukumar 48,Harsha 41 year,Ganashri 13 year,Hemeshwar 7 year,and house owner,Ramakka 65 year,Anitha 31 year,Rachana 21 year old.

Residents in and around Ganapathi circle and Attiguppe were shocked to the sound of an explosion followed by fire in the hotel.

They rushed out to see Mahesh engulfed in the fire running out and crying for help.

The residents put out the fire before alerting the fire and emergency service personnel.The fire tenders reached the spot within 15 minutes to put out the fire by then the residents had managed to contain the fire .

The injured Mahesh was rushed to Victoria hospital while Chandra layout police reached the spot and inspected the hotel.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the accident took place at around 7 am.The hotel employees had finished work the previous night and shut down the hotel at around 10 pm.

However the gas leaked and since there was no space to go out accumulated in the kitchen.On Monday Mahesh came for the work and tried to lit the stove,leading to the mishap,the police said .

Meanwhile in the evening another cylinder blast took place in Chandra Layout limits.

Fire incidence reported at attiguppe,Chandra layout at 08.45 pm. In which Injured persons are shifted to ESI and Victoria hospital for the treatment.

The police are now questioning the staff and other residents and sought the help of FSL team to ascertain the reason behind the mishap he added.

New Delhi: A total of 1,892 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected across 23 states and Union Territories so far, out of which 766 have recovered or migrated, according to the Union health ministry’s data updated on Tuesday.

Maharashtra has recorded the maximum number of 568 cases, followed by Delhi (382), Kerala (185), Rajasthan (174), Gujarat (152), and Tamil Nadu (121).

India’s Covid tally rose to 3,49,60,261 with 37,379 new cases, while the active cases increased to 1,71,830, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The death toll climbed to 4,82,017 with 124 more fatalities, the data showed.

The active cases comprise 0.49 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.13 per cent, the health ministry said.

An increase of 26,248 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 3.24 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.05 per cent, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,43,06,414, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.38 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 146.70 crore.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.