India May See 14 Lakh COVID Cases Daily If There’s A UK-Like Outbreak: Dr VK Paul
Mumbai: India may see as many as 14 lakh COVID-19 cases daily if there’s an outbreak as big as the one that the UK (over 80,000 daily cases) is currently seeing, NITI Aayog’s Dr VK Paul said.
The government also highlighted the fact that the United Kingdom and France are seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases – both Delta and Omicron – despite the percentage of vaccination in the adult population.
During a press briefing, Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, NITI Aayog said, “You are aware of the information in the public domain that the situation has worsened in some parts of Africa but also in some parts of Europe.”
He stressed that epidemics spread rapidly, especially with variants such as Omicron.
“We have to make efforts so that such a situation does not come here. Conversely, we have to be prepared to effectively face even such a situation,” he said.
Dr Paul highlighted the example of the UK, which recorded more than 80,000 cases on Thursday despite a high vaccination rate and exposure to Delta.
“If there is a similar outbreak in India, given our population, there will be 14 lakh cases every day. Similarly, France — where there is 80% partial vaccination — is reporting 65,000 cases. If an outbreak of a similar scale takes place in India, it will mean 13 lakh cases every day,” he added.
Britain reported 93,045 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, breaking a daily record for the third day in a row, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 11,190,354, according to official figures released on Friday.
Another 3,201 omicron cases have been detected in the UK, the UK Health Protection Agency (UKHSA) said, the biggest daily increase since the COVID-19 variant was detected in the country, taking the country’s total number of omicron cases to 14,909.
The country also reported a further 111 coronavirus-related deaths, taking the national death toll to 147,048.
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