Editorial: Third wave upon us

India is now in the grip of the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic with active cases crossing the one-lakh mark and the daily new infections hovering over 30,000. The New Year has brought in its wake a sense of anxiety and trepidation because the trend in daily case numbers is worse than what it […]

India is now in the grip of the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic with active cases crossing the one-lakh mark and the daily new infections hovering over 30,000. The New Year has brought in its wake a sense of anxiety and trepidation because the trend in daily case numbers is worse than what it was a year ago. However, there is no need for panic as all studies so far indicate that Omicron, which is driving the current wave, is much less deadly, though it is more transmissible than the Delta variant — spreading 70% faster than its predecessor. No country in which Omicron is currently rampaging has seen a significant rise in the Covid death rate. On this count, there is a reason for cautious optimism. Moreover, over 60% of the country’s adult population is now fully vaccinated and the States are better equipped to handle health emergencies. After much dithering, the Centre approved booster shots for the frontline and healthcare workers, as also for those above 60 years with co-morbidities. An estimated 74 million children in the 15-18 age group are also eligible for the vaccination now. Since vaccines are the best weapon to fight the virus, there is a need to ramp up inoculation so that the entire population can be covered as quickly as possible. India has already missed the December-end target of covering the entire population. According to a study by the Indian Council of Medical Research, the immunity generated by vaccines declines after about four months, necessitating a booster shot. This means that people who were fully vaccinated by September last year are at risk of being infected.

While lockdowns and curfews are no answer at this stage to deal with the spread of the new variant, the Covid-appropriate public behaviour — wearing masks, maintaining social distance and avoiding mass gatherings — must be enforced at all costs. With the Election Commission ruling out rescheduling the Assembly polls in either Uttar Pradesh — where less than 50% of the eligible population is fully vaccinated — or in Punjab, which has the lowest proportion of its eligible population fully vaccinated, and that poll campaigning is picking up pace, these two and the other three poll-bound States — Manipur, Uttarakhand and Goa — could be staring at a huge surge in Covid cases. Since no political party has sought postponement of Assembly elections, additional precautions must be taken by the poll panel to ensure that these States don’t become dangerous clusters. There is a need to ramp up medical infrastructure. It is disquieting that the States have utilised only 17% of the Rs 23,123-crore Emergency Covid-19 Response Package offered by the Centre. And even at very low rates of hospitalisation, the demand for beds, ICUs, and oxygen could become comparable to the second wave if the surge continues.

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