If Strong Measure Are Taken, We Might Not Face Third Wave Of COVID-19: Govt

Third Wave Of COVID: The central government said on Friday, April 7, that if strong measures are taken and implemented effectively on the ground, then it is possible that India may not see the third wave of Coronavirus infections.

Dr K VijayRaghavan, who is the government's principal scientific advisor addressed a press briefing of the Union health ministry and said, "If we take strong measures, the third wave may not happen in all the places or indeed anywhere at all."

He also added that this depends on how effectively the guidelines regarding the pandemic are implemented at the local level, in the states, and in the cities all across the country.

These comments came just two days after Dr VijayRaghavan held a similar press briefing, and said that it was "inevitable" that India will be hit by a hard third wave of COVID-19. In the briefing, he had stated that while a third wave is inevitable, its timing and scale cannot be presented at the moment.

In the previous briefing, Dr K VijayRaghavan said that in the wake of the changing nature of Coronavirus variants, the country must be ready for the third wave of the infection. "We can't predict the timing, but it seems inevitable. We must prepare ourselves and be ready for it," he said.

On Friday, the Union Health Ministry said that there are 12 states in the country that have more than 1 lakh active COVID-19 cases at present. While in seven states, the number of active cases ranges between 50,000 and 1 lakh.

The positivity rate of the COVID-19 infection is currently above 15 per cent in 24 states across the country and in nine states, it is in the range of 5 to 15 per cent, said the ministry.

It also added that in states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Chattisgarh there is a continuous plateauing or decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases. But in Kerala, West Bengal, Karnataka, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu the daily new cases have been showing an upward graph.