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Has the peak of 3rd wave arrived? What Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru's Covid numbers say | 5 points
Third wave of Covid in India: Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, vice chairman of the research cell of Kerala's unit of Indian Medical Association, said the number of hospital admissions is the best indicator of the severity of the ongoing wave of the pandemic, but it is difficult to say whether the wave has peaked or not.
After reporting over 2.47 lakh cases on Thursday, India now stares at another surge on Friday as several states on Thursday evening reported a huge rise in the number of Covid cases -- highest in several months. Delhi on Thursday reported 28,867 fresh infections which is the all-time high for the Capital since the beginning of the pandemic. Bengaluru on Thursday reported 18,374 fresh Covid cases. Kolkata reported 6,768 cases while West Bengal's positivity rate reached 32.13% with 23,467 cases. Chennai on Thursday reported 8,218 cases.
Maharashtra and Mumbai, however, maintained the 24-hour tally, with Mumbai seeing a dip in comparison with yesterday, and Maharashtra reporting around 46,000 cases.
Where India stands in respect to 3rd wave:
1. As hospitalisation has remained low in Delhi, health minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday said the ongoing wave has peaked in Delhi and cases may go down soon. A day after, Delhi reported the highest-ever single-day spike.
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2. "Epidemiologically, the peak of a wave is determined with the help of the rate of transmission, the number of infected people and the uninfected susceptible population. It can be plotted on a graph but the ground reality is always different from epidemiological modelling," Director of the National Institute for Implementation Research on Non-Communicable Diseases, Jodhpur, Dr Arun Sharma said. Dr Sharma said the positivity rate is the most important factor to understand a wave as the number of cases may increase or decrease depending upon the tests conducted.
3. Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said there is no indication of plateauing of the peak and the low number can be attributed to the low number of testing. According to ICMR's latest guideline, only symptomatic patients should get tested.
4. Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, vice chairman of the research cell of Kerala's unit of Indian Medical Association, said the number of hospital admissions is the best indicator of the severity of the ongoing wave of the pandemic, but it is difficult to say whether the wave has peaked or not.
5. According to scientific projections, the peak of the ongoing wave is likely to come anytime around January 15 and after that. The peak, as data scientists have projected, could be different in states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday interacted with the chief ministers of the states and Union territories and emphasised local containment and home isolation. India's preparation should be ahead of all variants of Covid and after Omicron, India should be ready for other variants as well, PM Modi said.
