India, May 27 -- There is no need to hit the panic button just yet on the rising cases of Covid in the country, director general of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Rajiv Bahl said, explaining that the sub-variant in circulation is a descendant of the Omicron variant that Indians are already exposed to. Speaking to HT in an interview, he, however, stressed that there is a need to be vigilant. Edited excerpts:

Is there a surge in Covid-19 cases?

There is a slight increase. Until March, there were almost zero cases of Sars-Cov-2, all the respiratory illness cases were either influenza A or B or RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), and one or two cases of the human metapneumovirus. Since the end of April, we are seeing more cases...