Nagpur: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday said the possibility of a third wave of Covid-19 projected to hit the country by September and October could less likely to be severe than the second wave of Covid-19 which hit the country in April-May.
Study backed by ICMR and Imperial College of London’s chromic model predicts that states like Maharashtra, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh may see a dip in Covid-19 cases or may not be hit as badly as the previous wave.
One of the reasons behind this could be string immunity acquired post-vaccination.
“Nobody can predict the third wave for the whole country.
It will now make sense only if district or state-specific data are used for specific projections.
The wave may rear its head only if states remove restrictions prematurely,” ICMR’s epidemiology and communicable disease (ECD) head Dr. Samiran Panda said.
He added that the third wave would likely hit the country only when there is decline in natural or vaccination boosted immunities or any new variant, deadlier than the delta variant comes up.
To avoid the third wave he urged the states to not allow mass gatherings and to follow the Covid-19 protocols.
