The Centre has also asked states and UTs to enhance testing in order to identify new clusters and new hotspots of infection. Testing has significantly declined in certain states and UTs, whereas the positivity continues to remain high.
“In Mumbai, decline is clear. In Delhi, the peak has been reached and decline should be seen in the coming week. Both of these should be sharp. India peak is still ahead, as the third wave spreads outside the bigger metros,” CSIR Institute Of Genomics and Integrative Biology Director Anurag Agarwal told TOI.
Experts say the infection travels gradually from bigger cities to tier 2 and 3 cities and though hospitalisations have been limited in metros so far, testing continues to be important for early detection, isolation and treatment.
On Monday, a total of 16.49 lakh tests were conducted across the country.
“Omicron will follow the same wave pattern as of Delta. It first hit metros and is likely to have spread to smaller cities and villages too. While cases have started sliding in metros, overall cases will continue to remain high as the infection is likely to follow the 2-3 weeks cycle to travel to smaller cities, which are estimated to witness a surge soon” says Fortis C-DoC Chairman Dr Anoop Misra.
According to Dr Misra, the actual rate of hospitalisation – even in Delhi – will demonstrate by next week as hospital admissions usually follow surges after at least three-four days.
In a letter to States and UTs, the health ministry said testing remains a key strategy for pandemic management as it can help in early identification to aid containment measures. Besides, it is also crucial for ensuring reduction in mortality and morbidity.
“As you are aware, the Omicron which has been designated… as a variant of concern is currently spreading across the country… Testing remains a key and crucial component of the framework. However, it is seen from the data available on the ICMR portal that testing has declined in many states and Union territories,” Arti Ahuja, additional secretary in the health ministry said.
“Progression of a disease to a severe category can be averted by strategic testing of those who are at high risk and more vulnerable, as well as in areas where the spread is likely to be higher,” she added.
While ICMR has recently issued new testing guidelines waiving off testing requirements for many categories, the health ministry advised states to opt for strategic and focused testing of people who are vulnerable, living in closed surroundings, in densely populated areas in emerging new clusters and new hot spots of positive cases.
“In order to ensure that an effective track of the spread of the pandemic is kept and also immediate citizen centric action is initiated, it is incumbent upon all States/UTs to enhance testing,” Ahuja said in the letter.