Summary:
New Delhi: All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria said on Tuesday that India may see a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic if the virus continues to evolve further and develops an immune escape mechanism.
Randeep Guleria also rejected the night curfews and weekend lockdowns that some states have imposed to bring down the Covid-19 cases, saying they hardly work.
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New Delhi: All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria said on Tuesday that India may see a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic if the virus continues to evolve further and develops an immune escape mechanism.
Randeep Guleria also rejected the night curfews and weekend lockdowns that some states have imposed to bring down the Covid-19 cases, saying they hardly work.
When asked if a nationwide shutdown is the only option left in view of the Covid emergency in India that has overwhelmed hospitals and caused a crisis of resources such as oxygen, Randeep Guleria said a lockdown for a sufficient duration is needed to cut virus transmission.
Speaking with India Today TV, Randeep Guleria said, "Three things need to be looked at here.
The first is improving the hospital infrastructure.
The second is decreasing the number of cases in an aggressive way and the third, rolling out of vaccines.
We have to break the chain of transmission.
If we decrease the close contact between humans, there is a possibility that the cases will come down."
India will possibly see another wave but since a large number of people will get vaccinated, the wave may not be as big as the current wave of coronavirus.
- Dr Randeep Guleria
"We can call it a lockdown, a regional lockdown based on a grated response like the UK did, depending upon the criteria you want -- state-level or larger level.