’Covid third wave is not the challenge but...,’ says ICMR chief Balram Bhargava

Amid the reports of a third covid wave that may hit the country next month, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) DG Dr Balram Bhargava stated that a predicted third wave of COVID-19 is not the challenge but the issue is how we will act when it will come.

He asserted that instead of highlighting the wave aspect, the focus should be on COVID appropriate behaviour/restrictions to contain the spread of the disease.

The report - COVID-19: The race to finishing line - prepared by SBI Research, claims that the covid third wave peak will arrive in the month of September 2021.

The research report says that India achieved its second wave peak on 7th May. "Going by the current data, India can experience cases around10,000 somewhere around the 2nd week of July. However, the cases can start rising by the second fortnight of August," the report said.

Addressing a media briefing, Dr Bhargava said, "The future challenge is not the 3rd wave, but how we act on it. Instead of highlighting the wave aspect, we should focus on COVID appropriate behaviour/restrictions to contain the spread," said the ICMR DG.

Though the Covid-19 situation has improved across the country with daily Covid-19 cases falling sharply, northeast states are reporting a higher number of infections.

India added 43,733 new cases of coronavirus taking the total infection tally to 3,06,63,665, while the active cases further declined to 4,59,920, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The death toll climbed to 4,04,211 with 930 daily fatalities.

The active cases have further declined to 4,59,920 and comprise 1.50 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 97.18 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.