Surge in cases indicative of third COVID-19 wave in India: Expert

In the major Indian cities, the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is accounting for more than 50 per cent of the fresh cases of the infection and the massive surge in the number of cases over the last one week is indicative of a third wave of the pandemic, as is being witnessed in several countries, Dr N K Arora, the chairman of the COVID-19 working group of the NTAGI, said on Tuesday.

Omicron is being detected in most of the states in the country, he told PTI. Noting that in the major metro centres and the surrounding regions, the new variant of the virus is accounting for over 50 per cent of the fresh cases, Arora said, "The galloping increase in the number of Covid cases over the last one week is indicative of the third wave, as is being seen in several other countries across the globe."

He, however, stressed that there is no need to panic. Arora said over 80 per cent of the people in the country have been infected with the virus naturally, more than 90 per cent of the adults have received at least one dose of an anti-Covid vaccine and over 65 per cent are fully vaccinated.

"If we look at the behaviour of the Omicron wave in South Africa, where it rapidly increased, in two weeks, the number of cases started coming down and most of the cases were either asymptomatic or had a mild illness, along with the decoupling of the total number of Covid cases vis-a-vis those requiring hospitalisation. All these factors indicate that the Omicron wave in South Africa may soon subside," he said.