India holds mock drill to step up Covid plans amid rising cases

A health worker takes a swab sample from a girl at a hospital in Ahmedabad on December 27, 2022. AFP

India began a two-day nationwide drill on Monday to step up emergency plans for a potential fourth wave of Covid-19 after a recent increase in cases.

Health officials on Monday reported more than 5,800 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the number of active cases to more than 35,000.

India has recorded more than 44 million cases and 530,979 deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020.

New Delhi reported 699 Covid-19 infections and four deaths in the past 24 hours. The city of 22 million recorded zero cases in January.

Maharashtra had 788 new cases of which Mumbai, India's financial capital, accounted for 221 — almost 10 times more than the city was reporting a month ago.

Several states, including Haryana in the north and Kerala in the south, have made face masks mandatory for students, pregnant women and people with lifestyle diseases.

While experts have said the spurt in cases is moderate and a possible result of emerging variants, easing of precautions and slow delivery of booster doses, the government is not taking any chances.

The Health Ministry has asked that all private and government-run hospitals across the country conduct mock drills and check oxygen beds, ventilators, PPE kits and other critical care equipment and services.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will oversee the drill at the All India Institute of Medical Science in Jhajjar, Haryana.

Mr Mandaviya conducted a situation review last week and said the government would continue with its strategies of “Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate” and “Covid-Appropriate Behaviour”.

“We are witnessing a spurt in infection cases although they are mild. We received 35 cases yesterday, but no one required ventilator or oxygen support,” Dr Nagnath Yemapalle, civil surgeon at the District Hospital in Pune city, told The National.

“We are conducting the mock drill of a 100-bed Covid ward. An inspection is continuing to check the equipment, oxygen cylinders, ventilators … preparedness and checking all logistics to be ready for any situation.”

The country of 1.4 billion witnessed one of the worst waves of the pandemic in April-May 2021, with millions of people contracting the Delta variant. At least 240,000 people are estimated to have died from Covid-19 during that wave.

Hospitals across the country ran out of space and lacked adequate staff, medication and equipment to deal with the number of cases. Desperate families ran from pillar to post to find oxygen cylinders as hospitals grappled with a shortages of supplies.