When will Omicron-led third wave decline in India? Expert shares timeline amid COVID spike
1 min read . Updated: 10 Jan 2022, 06:07 PM IST
Premium- COVID cases have been rising for last 8-9 days (nationally); cases in Delhi, Mumbai are almost 4-5 times more, expert says
- With the surge in cases, it is expected that a peak will be witnessed in January, he adds
Following a massive surge in coming weeks, the Omicron-led third COVID wave will also see a sharp decline as it happened in South Africa, an expert revealed.
"COVID-19 cases have been rising for last 8-9 days (nationally); cases in Delhi, Mumbai are almost 4-5 times more. With the surge in cases, it is expected that a peak will be witnessed in January. Hopefully, a sharp decline will be there following the peak as we saw in South Africa when cases soared suddenly and then declined," Dr Sandeep Nayar, HOD, Respiratory diseases at BLK Hospital told news agency ANI.
The comment comes at a time when the country has been witnessing a massive spike in cases. On Monday alone, India reported 1.79 lakh cases with the positivity rate jumping to 13%. Delhi reported over 20,000 cases for 2 consecutive days, and Maharashtra is also showing similar trends. The state on Sunday reported over 44,000 cases while Mumbai reported more than 19,000 cases.
Following COVID appropriate behaviour is essential
Nayar further suggested that under such circumstances following the right COVID appropriate behaviour is paramount. He also stresses the need for mass vaccination.
"For all variants of COVID-19, be it Delta, Omicron or any other variant, precaution is most important, which we call as COVID appropriate behaviour. This involves social distancing, hand hygiene, wearing masks and getting vaccinated. There is no medication as yet that can 100 per cent cure the disease. Prevention is the only thing that can protect us," Nayar told ANI.
"Now that we are also vaccinating the younger population in the age group 15 to 18 years and also discussions are on about the booster dose, India is on the right track. The vaccine prevents the disease from taking a severe form," he commented.
"As seen in the past, we defeated polio and smallpox with vaccination. Similarly, vaccination is important at the moment," he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
