Is A Third Wave Coming?

Covid-19

- Sonali Acharjee

Through the first week of August, India recorded eight continuous days of rising Covid cases. More than 255,000 new coronavirus cases were reported between July 27 and August 2, an 8 per cent jump from the week before. August 9, however, saw 27,421 new cases in 24 hours, the lowest since March 16. According to the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW), the second wave of Covid is still not over, it has merely reduced in intensity. A single-day fall in cases could easily be overturned, especially if we lower our guard. Like on March 8, when Covid cases dropped to 15,000 in a day from around 18,000, only to shoot up to 40,000 a day a week later, marking the onset of the second wave.

“We need to remain careful till a significant proportion of the population has been vaccinated. We shouldn’t assume we have achieved herd immunity; there are still places where the virus hasn’t spread. The intensity of the third wave will depend on the Covid-appropriate behavior we adopt,” says Prof. K. Srinath Reddy, president of, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI). The fourth serosurvey by ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research), released in July, suggests that nearly 68 per cent of Indians have developed antibodies against Covid. While the survey found high seropositivity in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Jharkhand, other states like Kerala, Haryana, Maharashtra, Assam, and most of the Northeast had low rates. High seropositivity indicates that a large share of the population has antibodies against Covid.