Corona 3rd Wave to hit India Sooner than Expected!

A third Covid wave in India is “inevitable,” according to AIIMS chief Dr. Randeep Guleria, as many parts of the nation are being unlocked after weeks of severe restrictions. The country’s biggest problem is vaccinating a large population, thus increasing Covishield dosage gaps “may not be a bad” way to give protection. He believes that unless people adopt appropriate Covid behaviour, the third wave may hit India within the next six to eight weeks!

Dr. Guleria highlighted that in India’s fight against Covid, a new frontier will need to be established to further research the virus’s mutation, as he discussed the new Delta-plus variation, which has arisen from the Delta variant of COVID-19, causing new concerns about monoclonal antibody treatment.

According to Dr. Guleria, “As we have started unlocking, there is again a lack of Covid-appropriate behaviour. We don’t seem to have learnt from what happened between the first and the second wave. Again crowds are building up… people are gathering. It will take some time for the number of cases to start rising at the national level. Third wave is inevitable and it could hit the country within the next 6 to 8 weeks… may be a little longer.”

So far, about 5% of the country’s population has received two doses of the vaccine. By the end of this year, the government hopes to have vaccinated 108 crores of the country’s 130 crore people.

As per the AIIMS Chief, “That (vaccination) is the main challenge. A new wave can usually take up to three months but it can also take much lesser time, depending on various factors. Apart from Covid-appropriate behaviour, we need to ensure strict surveillance. Last time, we saw a new variant – which came from outside and developed here – and led to the huge surge in the number of cases. We know the virus will continue to mutate. Aggressive surveillance in hotspots is required.”

“Virus is still mutating, we need to be careful,” he warned of the Delta variant’s spread in the United Kingdom, which is now facing a third wave.

According to news agency PTI, the highly transmissible variety initially found in India now accounts for 99 percent of new COVID-19 cases in the UK.

In various regions of India, a devastating second wave has resulted in a scarcity of hospital beds and medical resources. SOS appeals on social media have attracted the attention of the whole globe, with several countries stepping forward to assist. After weeks of severe limitations, some states have already reduced the limits; nonetheless, preparations are underway for the third wave.