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India sees tenfold rise in COVID-19 cases

Special India sees tenfold rise in COVID-19 cases
A health worker takes part in a mock drill to check preparations at COVID-19 facilities at a hospital in Mumbai on April 10, 2023. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 01 June 2025

India sees tenfold rise in COVID-19 cases

India sees tenfold rise in COVID-19 cases
  • India’s official caseload increased to 3,395 on Sunday from 257 on May 22
  • No spike in hospitalization rate, pulmonologist says, as symptoms remain mild

NEW DELHI: India has reported a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases over the past 10 days, official data showed on Sunday, with new, more transmissible virus variants believed to be driving the surge.

A new wave of infections emerged in parts of Asia last month, especially Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Thailand.

The new spread of the coronavirus that a few years ago brought the world to a standstill has been linked to JN.1, a highly transmissible variant of the omicron strain of COVID-19. It emerged in late 2023 and spread globally through early 2024, becoming one of the dominant variants in many countries.

India’s current caseload is 3,395 as of Sunday, according to Ministry of Health data – up significantly from the previous official count of 257 on May 22.

The ministry confirmed last week it had detected across the country two subvariants of JN.1 – LF.7 and NB.1.8.1 – which spread faster but are believed to be mild.

“(The) majority of those are mild cases, just like seasonal flu, and we are not seeing any significant admission or emergency visits due to COVID-19. Right now, the situation is under control. Any flu that starts spreading spreads fast like wildfire,” Dr. Nikhil Modi, pulmonology and respiratory medicine specialist at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi, told Arab News.

While in the last 24 hours, four deaths have been recorded – in Delhi, Kerala, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh – the “patients were already suffering from critical illnesses,” Modi said.

“Severe disease is not being reported anywhere significantly.”

India was one of the worst-hit countries during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. At its peak, health authorities recorded over 400,000 new cases per day.

Hospitals across many states were overwhelmed with patients and faced severe shortages of oxygen supplies, hospital beds, ventilators, and critical medicines.

The World Health Organization estimates that 4.7 million deaths in India were directly and indirectly related to COVID-19.

“The way we have seen COVID-19 in 2021, panic is bound to come but things, for the time being, are under control. We are not seeing admissions significantly rising due to COVID, so we should be able to manage. Advisories and preparedness in all hospitals have started, so if the situation changes, we are ready for it,” Modi said.

“Right now, we don’t have to panic about it.”


Ukraine imports gas via Balkans from Greece to keep system running after Russian strikes

Updated 4 sec ago

Ukraine imports gas via Balkans from Greece to keep system running after Russian strikes

Ukraine imports gas via Balkans from Greece to keep system running after Russian strikes
Ukraine also imports about 23 mcm of gas daily, including nearly 10 mcm from Hungary, about 8 mcm from Poland and about 5 mcm from Slovakia
The Transbalkan route was not used in September and October, and prior to that operated only in July and August

KYIV: Ukraine has resumed gas imports from a pipeline that runs across the Balkan peninsula to Greece, to keep its heating and electric systems running through the winter after widespread damage from intensified Russian attacks.
Russia intensified strikes on Ukraine’s gas sector in October, depriving Ukraine of at least half of its own gas production, forcing it to import an additional 4 billion cubic meters of gas to compensate for the decline.
Data from the Ukrainian gas transit operator showed on Wednesday that Ukraine will receive 1.1 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas from the Transbalkan route on Wednesday, after the import of 0.78 mcm on Tuesday. The route links Ukraine to LNG terminals in Greece, via Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria.
Ukrainian energy consultancy ExPro said last month that Greek DEPA Commercial, D.Trading — a subsidiary of Ukraine’s largest private energy firm DTEK — and Swiss Axpo Trading had booked capacity to import gas from Greece to Ukraine with a daily amount of 0.6 million cubic meters.
Ukraine also imports about 23 mcm of gas daily, including nearly 10 mcm from Hungary, about 8 mcm from Poland and about 5 mcm from Slovakia.
The Transbalkan route was not used in September and October, and prior to that operated only in July and August.
The pipeline was not in demand due to the high cost of gas transit across the four countries and via Ukraine. However, tariff reductions by Moldovan and Romanian operators had helped boost the booking of capacities in November, ExPro said.

LONG RECOVERY
High pressure must be maintained in gas pipelines, and import via the Transbalkan route is one of the elements that helps the Ukrainian system remain operational when domestic production can no longer pump enough gas into the pipes.
Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Kyiv-based Center of Energy Studies, said Russian attacks had damaged a significant number of gas compressors, complicating the restoration of the power system.
“We will not restore 30 percent to 40 percent (of destroyed capacity) during the heating season because the compressor stations have been destroyed,” Kharchenko told a televised briefing.
Compressors for the gas system are expensive at the best of times and unavailable worldwide now because of huge demand, he said.
“(Gas) production has been affected, and restoring the compressors is not a matter of months. Restoring production will take 15-18 months,” Kharchenko added.