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Covid 2nd wave: Severe than 1st in Maha, 'less serious' in Delhi | What we know
The second wave of the pandemic, which is believed to have begun in the country since February end-March beginning, has more affected the peri-urban areas than the first one.
India has been grappling with a sharp rise in the number of Covid-19 cases since March, which is officially being called the beginning of the second wave of the pandemic. In Maharashtra, however, the wave began early — from February beginning. The ongoing wave is different from the first one on several points and has impacted states differently.
Here is what we know about the second wave so far
> The first peak in India was around August- September 2020, with the highest daily spike of 96,551 cases being recorded on September 11. After that, the tally of single-day cases started to fall with small curves in November and December. The sharpest fall was recorded in January and February 1st week, after which the graph again took an upward curve and on Sunday 93,249 fresh cases were reported.
> The growth rate of Covid-19 cases in March has surpassed the previous record of June 2020, which was 5.5 per cent.
> States have been impacted differently, though many states, including Maharashtra and Punjab, reported their highest-ever single-day spike during this second wave of the pandemic.
> Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said the situation in Delhi now is not as serious as it was in 2020. For Delhi, this is the 4th wave, not 2nd as in the rest of the country, the CM said. "Cases are spreading fast. This is concerning but in October when daily cases were around 3,000-4,000 like it is now, many patients were in ICU. There were many deaths as well. But this wave is less serious than the previous ones. More people are under home isolation," Kejriwal said.
> Maharashtra's Covid-19 situation in this wave is more serious than it was during the first wave, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said.
> In this phase, the presence of several mutants of the virus has been found in the samples collected from 18 states. But this has not been held responsible for the surge as the mutation is common.
> Scientists have projected that this wave might reach its peak between April 15 and 20. After that, cases will come down sharply, which has been mathematically projected.
> The 2nd phase has impacted tier 2 and tier 3 cities along with peri-urban areas more than the 1st phase, which has also emerged as an area of concern.
