Third Wave of COVID-19 Inevitable

In India, the third wave of COVID-19 is inevitable given the amount of virus circulation, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government, K. VijayRaghavan warned on Wednesday.

He also said that regular monitoring of the Covid-19 vaccines is needed for upgradation to deal with the new strains.

COVID-19 Vaccination in India: Issues and Challenges
India’s COVID-19 vaccination program has been launched. It currently uses the vaccines Covishield and Covaxin. There are some issues and challenges that need to be overcome in order to vaccinate all Indians.

‘Third phase is inevitable given the amount of virus circulating. But it is difficult to predict the timeline. We should prepare for the new (third) wave.’

Tweet it Now

The Scientific Advisor also pointed out that variants are transmitted the same as the original strain.

"It doesn't have properties of new kinds of transmission. It infects humans in a manner that makes it more transmissible as it gains entry, makes more copies and goes on, same as original," he said.

VijayRaghavan also emphasised that vaccines currently available are effective against existing variants. He said that scientists in India and across the globe are working to anticipate new variants and act against them rapidly by early warning and developing modified tools.

Second Wave of COVID-19 Witnesses More Deadly Strain Than Ever
Newly mutated A.P. strain of covid-19 spikes up the second wave.The shorter incubation period of newly mutated N440K variants of COVID-19 is shown to spike up the “second wave” of COVID-19.

The Union Health Ministry, meanwhile, said that around 2.4 per cent day on day growth in Covid cases has been noticed in the country.

Joint Secretary, Health, Luv Aggarwal said: "12 states have more than one lakh active cases, seven states have 50,000 to one lakh active cases and 17 states have less than 50,000 active cases. Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have more 1.5 lakh active cases."

Bad Consequence of Covid-19 Related to Obesity
UK based study has reported that higher body weight based on BMI range increases the risk of Covid- 19 complications.

Aggarwal stated that 24 states and UTs have reported more than 15 per cent Covid positivity rate while 10 states have more than 25 per cent positivity rate. Maharashtra has a reported positivity rate of 24 per cent.

Niti Aayog's Member, Health, Dr V.K. Paul urged physicians to come forward and provide teleconsultations to people and families at home who are infected with Covid. Referring to the new strain, he said: "The response to the changing virus remains the same... we need to follow the covid appropriate behaviour such as mask, distancing, hygiene, no unnecessary meetings and staying at home."

Antiseptic Throat Spray and Malaria Drug may Curb the Spread of Covid-19
Povidone-iodine throat spray and oral hydroxychloroquine reduce SARS-CoV-2 infection among quarantined individuals living in a closed and high exposure setting.

Source-IANS