India’s top scientific advisor has issued a grim warning — A Third Wave is inevitable. And this time, Covid-19 will hit not just adults but our children in a big way.
Highlights
- World media is berating the Indian government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis in the country.
- Cases in India have surged to the world’s highest and the country is likely to see an elevated graph in the coming weeks.
- A Third Wave is bound to hit the already pandemic-stricken India trying to tackle the Second Wave but failing miserably.
- As per virologist Dr. V Ravi, India’s third Covid-19 wave will “hit children in a big way”.
- While a number of country’s have restricted contact with India, new mutations of concern in the country could derail Covid-19 recoveries globally.
Sometimes it’s okay to take your own time to heal. But what’s happening in the world today is an unprecedented nightmare. Unimagined and unexpected, the deadly second wave has made India the country of perpetually burning funeral pyres. The deadly coronavirus has not only quelled tranquility in the world but also shattered millions of lives, taking the global Covid-19 death toll to 3,244,581 as of May 5, 2021.
You will find more infographics at Statista
While India is in the middle of the second wave, combating to save lives, there are already reports of a third wave coming. Coronavirus has ravaged several big cities across India, namely, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai, and Pune. The conditions in hospitals have never been worse with a lack of beds for new patient admissions.
Watch: India should buckle up, Covid-19 Third wave “Inevitable” – Govt’s Chief Scientific Advisor
Vaccines are the only ray of hope for the world to combat this devastation. India has started vaccination for all adults 18 and above as of May 1, 2021. Unfortunately, several reports have highlighted the shortage of vaccines amid criticism of India’s vaccine policy. There are also news reports claiming underreporting of Covid-19 deaths.
Furthermore, the current situation in India has passed shock waves across the world. Many countries currently seeing a dip in cases and even loosening restrictions fear the mutated strains might bring the pandemic to their streets.
You will find more infographics at Statista
What went wrong?
Between December 2020 and March 2021, scientists in India detected a contagious double variant of SARS-CoV-2 in Maharashtra. After looking into this aspect, the Union Health Ministry said in a statement that 15-20 percent of the samples carried two unfamiliar mutations – E484Q and L452R. This gave rise to an early start of the second wave in India. However, recent reports opine that even after several warnings made by federal scientists, the Indian government ignored the gravity of the situation which led to the country’s most fatal problem.
Watch: Top Scientists say India ignored Covid-19 variant warnings
Today, the Indian healthcare system is at a crossroads. Families are crying and begging outside hospital buildings for help as cases rise at an increasing rate day by day. India could soon be hit by a third wave A CSIR Official quoted that the next wave can be “more dangerous” than the second wave. India which was confident that it had beaten COVID-19 till a couple of months ago is one of the most suffered countries today. The reasons for the surge in COVID death cases every day is a set of decisions that culminated in catastrophic mismanagement.
You will find more infographics at Statista
There are myriad measures that the Indian government could have done to keep the deadly virus at bay. However, India’s recent actions seem to suggest that the government stopped taking the virus seriously. Instead, people in India got to witness two events.
One, a massive of 70+ lakh people gathering at the Haridwar’s Kumbh Mela festival to take a dip in the holy waters of Ganga, which concluded on Friday. Several reports state that 1700+ people who attended the Kumbh Mela festival were affected by COVID. The reports also claim that there were no exact numbers on the returnees from the Kumbh Mela event, as it’s arduous to find out who has returned to their respective places from Kumbh. Amid severe conditions in India, how could the government be so careless about the situation despite the alarming surge in the Covid death cases in the second wave? Well, there are tons of questions in the minds of the people in India right now about the naive decision that was taken by the government during this devastating period.
Unfortunately, that’s not it, but there’s more to the story that led to spiraling COVID cases in the second wave – “elections rallies in West Bengal”. Mamata Banerjee, serving as the Chief Minister of West Bengal since 2011, has won the tough battle against PM Modi-led BJP with grit and grace. The moment TMC’s victory headlines flashed, supporters swamped the roads and celebrated it more like a festival in the open, unmindful of the fact that the pandemic is still out there, taking lives ruthlessly.
As India is still reeling from the second wave of Covid-19, the government didn’t even give a second thought to postpone or call off the elections. The decision to conduct elections and put millions of lives at risk has been condemned by opposition and even neutral observers.
One plus one equals to two
With the out-of-hand situation in India, people need optimal protection to remain safe from this virus. However, many continue to hang their masks below the chin. A February 2021 survey found out that only 30 percent Indians say there’s mask compliance. On the other hand, to curtail the spread of the virus, health experts/doctors recommended everyone wear two masks, as the second wave is more infectious than the first.
According to the CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) experiments conducted in January 2021, wearing double masks properly knotted and tucked at the edges, close to the face, can reduce the chances of getting COVID-19. The experiment also reveals that “the receiver’s exposure was maximally reduced (>95%) when the source and receiver were fitted with modified medical procedure masks.” For more information on the type of masks to wear, you can check out the CDC official website here.
The post First Adults Now Children: India’s Third Covid-19 Wave Should Worry The World appeared first on DKODING.
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