‘Continue with precautions to avoid next corona wave’

With the daily total number of cases fewer than 20,000, the Covid situation in the country seems to be improving. The number of Covid deaths is also decreasing. According to reports, daily new cases have seen a fall of over 80% since September. This declining figure may seem like a relief, but several doctors and health experts told The Sunday Guardian that the possibility of another wave hitting India cannot be discounted.

According to Dr Suri Raju from Regal Multi-specialty Hospital, “Though we say it is less likely that India will be hit by another wave, we cannot ignore such chances. In the case of the UK, for example, it was thought Covid was under control, but it has been hit by a new wave. There has been an increase in Covid cases amid vaccination.” “However, India is well prepared to fight in any such unlikely instances. With vaccines being rolled out, we are more prepared to handle the crisis in case there is any rise in Covid cases. In fact, healthcare workers being vaccinated on priority has made them more confident and they are ready to serve patients in a better way now,” he added.

Dr Sanjeev Bagai, MD and Chairman of Nephron Clinic, told The Sunday Guardian: “There is always a possibility of getting hit by another wave. Mask, hygiene, social distancing, and precaution are important for the better part of 2021. The drop in Covid cases is due to the good management by the government, good medical response, extremely good quarantine and isolation facilities, early lockdown, which helped in containing the spread, and probably the innate immunity of the Indian subcontinent. Genetic mutation can definitely be the cause if we get hit by another wave. We have already seen 30-40 odd patients of UK mutation. But mutations are a part of the RNA virus evolution and we have gazillion strains floating around the world.”

As per data from ICMR, almost 30% of the population has antibodies due to exposure to Covid, though they haven’t suffered the disease.

Dr Jagadish Hiremath, CEO of Ace Multi-specialty Hospital, told The Sunday Guardian: “The majority of healthcare workers who have been exposed to Covid, either while treating the patients or in daily life, might possibly be immune to the disease already. Still, there is a significant vulnerable population without antibodies in them. So, the possibility of another