Ramanagara witnesses sudden Covid surge

In the last five days, Ramanagara district, which is not known to generate a high daily caseload of Covid-19, has been recording a high number of cases.

Since January 7, the district has recorded an explosive 737% growth rate in the number of active Covid-19 cases, when it grew from 37 to 273 as of Wednesday. In comparison, at the start of the second wave, cases grew at a rate of 100% from five to 10.

District Health Officer, Dr Niranjan said that new cases had been recorded equally in all four taluks of the district and added that most have mild symptoms. “The cause of the spread is still unclear,” the DHO said.

Several epidemiologists who weighed in confidentially on the rise noted that something abnormal is happening in the district. “Ramanagara never saw a rapid growth in numbers in the second wave. So, this time around there is something strange happening in the district and that needs to be looked into,” one epidemiologist said, adding that whatever the source of the infection, the cause is undoubtedly a flurry of Covid appropriate behaviour violations.

A second expert added that the surge in infection could be the large gatherings of people. “Infections are rife in large gatherings because concentration of people in an area of 100-200 square metres simulate the same conditions as indoor spaces,” the expert said.

He pointed out that people not wearing mask properly faced the risk of infection in under 15 minutes by the Delta variant - a rate of infectivity that is higher under Omicron. “If one person is wearing a cloth mask and the other is not: the infection sets in between 15-20 minutes. Even if two people are wearing an N95 mask there is still a 5% chance of infection,” he added.

One driver of the spike could be the faster incubation period of the Omicron variant which medical personnel at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) told DH can manifest symptoms on the same day of infection.

However, Dr Niranjan said that genomic sequencing for many of the new cases is still pending.