NEW DELHI: While the peak of the third wave is over as cases are fast declining, the doctors say that it will take another 7-10 days’ time for the wave to be over. As per Dr Sanjay Kumar Rai, Professor, Department of Community Medicine at All India Institute of Medical Science, “This wave was not highly infectious, but active cases are still in large numbers.”
Dr Rai says that surveillance system is the way forward as this virus is not going away anytime soon.
“We need to monitor the behaviour of the virus. In the last two years, we have generated a lot of evidence against it. We cannot stop the propagation but it is always better to take the correct measures. In future, the best way out is to monitor all the cases,” he adds.
Dr Rai added: “There can be infections because the RNA virus mutates, but since we have good immunity with the help of vaccinations, we can say that severity will not happen again.” With vaccination drives being conducted for teenagers and adults and booster for senior citizens, the effectiveness of the virus is thought to reduce.
However, doctors point that no study has been conducted to prove that vaccination has had an effect on Omicron variant. Dr Jugal Kishore, HoD of Community Medicine, Safdarjung Hospital, feels that Omicron reduces the fatality and prevents cases from becoming severe. “The Omicron variant was mild and that is why the curve came so quick. Chances of cases increasing is very bleak but we still need to wait for 10 more days,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr Suresh Kumar from Lok Nayak Hospital pitched for more vaccinations and predicted that the COVID-19 third wave will end by this month end. “ICU beds are still occupied and many states are reporting more and more cases. We need more vaccinations. Many people have only taken the first dose and did not take second dose yet,” he informed.
Dr Kumar added that a laidback approach cannot be taken when it comes to vaccinations and following Covid guidelines. On Thursday, the national capital recorded 1,104 fresh cases due to Covid-19 and 12 deaths, taking the positivity rate to 2.09 per cent. There are 5,438 active cases in the city at present.
While the cases are on a steep decline, the number of tests conducted have been above 40,000 on a regular basis and a total of 52,848 tests were conducted on Thursday alone.