Is the Third Covid Wave Really Coming to India?

Unless you’re Rapunzel stuck in a high tower, you must be aware and must have also been directly or indirectly affected by the second covid wave that befell India in early April this year.

Undoubtedly this second wave has been deadlier and plunged the country into a healthcare criss like never before. Now that things have opened up and tourism is afoot again, doctors and pandemic researchers are scared about a third wave coming in a few weeks.

I read online that a Reuters poll of 40 healthcare specialists conducted in June predicted that a third wave of the pandemic will come by October. Of those who offered a prediction, over 85% said the next wave will hit by October. Naturally, things don;t look too good.

India’s top doctors’ body, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Monday appealed to the Central and state governments to not let the guard down on the Covid front warning that a third wave was just around the corner. It expressed pain over complacency shown by authorities and the public in various parts of India at this crucial juncture.

It warned that India had only recently walked out of the disastrous second wave, thanks to considerable efforts of the modern medical fraternity and political leadership.

It looks like that going by the experience of the past year-and-a-half, the impact of the third wave can be mitigated by ensuring universal vaccination and following Covid-appropriate behaviour.

The IMA also said that the consequences of treating a patient with Covid in a hospital and its impacts on the economy will be much better than the economic loss we suffer by avoiding such mass gatherings. It is the duty and responsibility of everyone at this moment to strictly enforce Covid-appropriate behaviour for at least the next three months and ensure that everyone near our houses is getting vaccinated.

I for one, wholeheartedly agree. Please stay at home, people. Travel only if necessary.