Third Covid-19 wave is inevitable: Principal scientific adviser

Principal scientific adviser to the central government says the ongoing surveillance as well as vaccine upgrades will help combat the new waves

Principal Scientific Adviser to the Centre K VijayRaghavan on Wednesday said the “third phase” of the Covid-19 is inevitable.

VijayRaghavan, during a media briefing, said, “Variants are transmitted same as original strain. It does not have the properties of new kinds of transmission. It infects humans in a manner that makes it more transmissible as it gains entry, makes more copies and goes on, same as the original.”

A man breathes with the help of oxygen support at a Gurdwara, in Ghaziabad on Tuesday. Pic/AFP

“A phase three is inevitable, given the higher levels of circulating virus but it is not clear on what time scale this phase three will occur. We should prepare for new waves. Ongoing surveillance is needed as are vaccine upgrades,” he said.

“Previous infection and vaccine will cause an adaptive treasure on the virus, a new kind of changes that will escape. Therefore, we should be prepared scientifically to take care of that,” he said.

‘New variants will arise’

VijayRaghavan further said, “Vaccines are effective against current variants. New variants will arise all over the world and in India, too, but variants that increase transmission will likely plateau. Immune evasive variants and those which lower or increase disease severity will arise going ahead.”

“Scientists of India and all over the world are working to anticipate these kinds of variants and act against them rapidly by early warning and developing modified tools. It is an intense research program, happening in India and abroad,” he added.

During the media briefing, Joint Secretary of Union Health Ministry Lav Agarwal informed that 12 states have more than 1 lakh active cases, 7 states have 50,000 to 1 lakh active cases, and 17 states have fewer than 50,000 active cases.

“Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh have around 1.5 lakh active cases,” Agarwal said.

“There are some areas of concern. Bengaluru reported around 1.49 lakh cases in the last one week. Chennai reported 38,000 cases. Some districts have recorded further and speedy cases, which include Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Gurugram,” the Joint Secretary said. 

He said that around 2.4 per cent day-on-day growth in Covid-19 cases has been noticed. “An increase in deaths has been noticed too. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, and Haryana reported more death cases,” he added.

Deaths could double by June

A record 3,780 fresh COVID-19 fatalities were registered in a single day in India, while 3,82,315 new infections were recorded, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday morning. The active cases have increased to 34,87,229.

A team at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru has cautioned that the death toll could nearly double by June if the current upward trends keep up, according to a report in Bloomberg. Using a mathematical model, the team has predicted about 4,04,000 COVID-19 casualties by June 11. 

Whereas, a model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington has predicted 10,18,879 deaths by the end of July.

Kerala seeks 75 lakh COVID vaccines doses

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday requested the Centre to provide at least 1,000 tonnes of imported LMO  and 50 lakh doses of Covishield and 25 lakh doses of Covaxin to the state in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases. He also sought Pressure Swing Absorption  plants, oxygen concentrators and ventilators on a priority basis, considering the fact that Kerala has one of the highest active caseloads in India.

N440K variant ‘fading’; retd HC judge to probe 24 K’taka deaths

>> The N440K variant of Coronavirus, which wreaked havoc during the first wave in the country is diminishing and likely to disappear soon, scientists at CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) said. Dismissing media reports that N440K is causing chaos in Andhra Pradesh, CCMB scientist Divya Tej Sowpati said the current data show it is replaced by new variants such as B1617 and B117.

>> The Karnataka government on Wednesday appointed retired high court judge Justice B A Patil as the one-man commission to inquire into the death of 24 COVID patients in Chamarajanagar district allegedly owing to oxygen shortage on May 3. The office of the commission has to submit its report in one month.

>> The Uttar Pradesh government has announced that journalists and their families will be given priority in vaccination against COVID-19. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday issued instructions to allot separate vaccination centres for journalists and their family members, who are above 18 years of age, a statement stated.

2,06,65,148
Total no. of coronavirus cases in India so far

2,26,188
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far

1,69,51,731
Total no. of patients Recovered and discharged in India so far

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