Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 13: Even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of the Delta variant spreading around the world at a vicious speed, the prime minister Narendra Modi appealed to the people not to become casual and said with little more caution and vigilance India could prevent the possible third wave.
Speaking on Tuesday at a virtual meeting with the eight chief ministers of the north-eastern states where the number of new positive cases have started rising lately, Modi urged people not to compromise on Covid-19 protocol to prevent a third wave of coronavirus pandemic and said experts were constantly studying how troubling the virus could be after mutations and that prevention and treatment were very important in such a dynamic situation.
His appeal come amidst warning by the WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who said the Delta variant was ripping around the world at a scorching pace, driving a new spike in cases and deaths. He warned that the variant which had already spread to 104 countries could soon become the dominant COVID-19 strain circulating worldwide.
Noting that as the Delta variant spreads, not everywhere was taking the same hit, the WHO chief said “we’re in the midst of a growing two-track pandemic where the haves and have-nots within and between countries are increasingly divergent.”
Modi too cautioned the countrymen against any kind of complacency even while admitting that economy had taken a big hit and several sectors needed opening up. But he said it was a matter of concern to see crowds without masks and not following social distancing in hill stations.
“It is true that tourism and business have been greatly affected due to Corona. But today I will say with great emphasis that it is not right to have huge crowds in hill stations, markets without masks. We all need to work together to stop the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic,” Modi said.
“The virus does not come and go on its own… we bring it with us when we disobey the rules. Experts are warning us repeatedly that careless behaviour – like overcrowding – will lead to an increase in Covid cases,” he said. “Steps should be taken to prevent crowds… We all need to work together to stop the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.
The government also expressed concern over the “gross violations” of Covid-appropriate behaviour in several parts of the country and said this can nullify the gains made so far.
Addressing a press conference on the pandemic situation in the country, Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry, said people talk about the third wave as a “weather update” but fail to understand that adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour or the lack of it was what would prevent or cause any future waves.
NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr VK Paul, who was also present at the press conference, said globally, a third wave of COVID-19 was being seen and called on people to make efforts to ensure that it does not happen in India.
Agarwal said, “India has shown consistent decline in average daily new COVID cases since week ending May 11. A decline of 6% in average daily new cases in last week.” “Currently Kerala is reporting 30.3% of new COVID cases. Maharashtra — 20.8%; TN — 8.5%; AP — 7.3%. 73 district across India now that are reporting more than 100 cases daily.”
“We are seeing a rise in cases across the globe which is a cause of worry. This has happened after a drop in cases,” he said.
A third wave may be caused because of our irresponsible behaviour, Agarwal added while Paul said, “The world seeing a surge in COVID cases. This could be the 3rd wave and we have to keep India safe. This depends on us. It’s time to be very very vigilant.”
The two earlier waves of Covid — the first after gatherings during last year’s festive season and the second during Kumbh earlier this year — made it clear that the disease gets a fresh lease of life every time social distancing norms are violated.
Agarwal said approximately 73.4% of the new COVID-19 cases reported so far in July were from Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. He said 55 districts reported Covid case positivity rate of more than 10 per cent in the week ending July 13.
Central teams have been deputed to Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Meghalaya, Odisha, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura to support them in COVID-19 management, he added.
India’s COVID-19 death toll climbed to 4,10,784 on Tuesday with 2,020 new deaths recorded after Madhya Pradesh reconciled its fatality data while 31,443 new coronavirus cases pushed the infection tally to 3,09,05,819, according to Union health ministry data.