Covid third wave may not happen if we take strong measures: Govt’s top scientific advisor

Day after the ‘inevitable’ warning, the Central Government’s top scientific advisor has said that India may manage to dodge a deadly third wave of the pandemic if necessary steps at all places are taken

India can avert the third wave of coronavirus if the government takes strong measures, K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor to Centre said on Friday.

“If we (India) take strong measures, the third wave may not happen in all the places or indeed anywhere at all. It depends much on how effectively the guidance is implemented at the local level, in the states, in districts and the cities everywhere,” the Principal Scientific Advisor said in a press briefing on Friday.

Today’s remarks were a step-down from earlier when VijayRaghavan stated, “Phase 3 is inevitable, given the high levels at which this virus is circulating. But it is not clear at what time scale this Phase 3 will occur.”

Meanwhile, Arti Ahuja, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health said that states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Jharkhand have started to show a narrow decline in daily Covid-19 cases recently.

In a media briefing, Ahuja said, “Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Jharkhand are the states/UTs where cases were increasing earlier but are now plateauing gradually”.

However, states like Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland have began to show an increase in trend in daily coronavirus cases, Ahuja added.

Currently, 12 states and union territories have more than one lakh active cases. These include: Maharashtra (641,281); Karnataka ( 517,095); Kerala (391,251), Uttar Pradesh ( 259.844); Rajasthan ( 198,101), Andhra Pradesh (182,329); Gujarat (147,525); Tamil Nadu (131,468); Chhattisgarh (131,245); West Bengal (122,774); Haryana (115,842), and Bihar (115,152).

According to the union health ministry, 24 states account for more than 15% positivity rate, nine states have a positivity rate between 5% and 15%. On the other hand, only three states have a positivity rate of less than 5% between 1 and 7 May.

Additional Secretary Ahuja further informed about the vaccination drive in the country. She said 11.81 lakh people have been given the first dose of Covid-19 vaccines in the age group of 18-44 years to date. Whereas cumulatively, 16.50 crore doses have been administered across all categories, she added.

As of May 7, India has 36,45,164 coronavirus active cases, 23,40,83 deaths and 1,76,12,351 recoveries. According to the health ministry, more than 70% of deaths are due to comorbidities.