PUNE: India will not necessarily go on to mirror the Covid graph of countries currently reporting huge surges in caseloads, Dr Samiran Panda, additional director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, told TOI on Saturday.
“Relaxations observed in states must continue. The public health approach is not living in fear forever,” he said, adding that masks should stay on and vaccine coverage widened.
The comments follow a central directive asking states and UTs to intensify surveillance after cases surged in Europe and Asia. Panda said while more country-specific data is needed to formulate clear action plans, India’s focus should be on easing curbs along with ensuring precaution.
“We should be cautious and must maintain surveillance and hygiene,” Dr Panda said.
As for the surges being seen in China, Hong Kong and some parts of Europe, the ICMR expert said various countries went on to draw up different plans to reduce infections as the pandemic progressed. “So, no one country would mirror another country now. Even if there is a rise in cases elsewhere, it does not mean it will happen here too. We as a country should step up genomic and sentinel surveillance,” he said, adding that, importantly, India also used a different set of vaccines against Covid-19.
He maintained that any planning must be based on data generated from within the country and not on observations from other countries. “But we should closely monitor these developing scenarios,” he said.
In an earlier interview, he had said the third wave is indeed ebbing in India — in patterns predicted by the CHROMIC model — and the way forward should involve hospital surveillance, with an eye out for variants that escape immunity.
Covid cases have been steadily rising in some parts of the world, with weekly data estimating a growth of 8%-10%. China and Hong Kong are attributing their surges to the Omicron’s BA.2 subvariant, but Indian officials have said it’s highly unlikely a new variant will lead to surges here, given the vaccination coverage.
“We want to ensure adequate vigilance. And, states, even as they have adequate relaxations, must ensure that Covid protocols are being followed,” a central official said.