NEW DELHI, July 15: Amidst wild speculations about the possible third wave of Covid-19, some experts in the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have predicted that the next wave of the infectious disease is likely to hit the country in August.
“The third wave of Covid is likely to hit at end of August and it will not be as intense as the second wave,” Dr Samiran Panda, Head of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases at the ICMR said. “Reducing the severity of the surge is directly linked to preventing super spreader events,” he added.
Earlier this week, the Indian Medical Association said the third wave was imminent. “With the global evidence available and the history of any pandemics, the third wave is inevitable and imminent…However, it is painful to note…in many parts of the country both the government and public are complacent and engaged in mass gatherings without following Covid protocols,” an IMA press release said on Monday.
The government has said the people are taking the warnings about the second wave like the “weather predictions,” and had urged the people to treat it more seriously and strictly adhere to Covid-appropriate protocols to prevent it or at least reduce its impact.
Earlier today, the World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the world is in the “early stages” of the third wave of Covid-19, driven by the Delta variant of the virus. The variant, found now in more than 111 nations, had first surfaced in India and was behind the devastating second surge of the virus. “We expect it to soon be the dominant COVID-19 strain circulating worldwide if it isn’t already,” the WHO chief had said.
(Manas Dasgupta)