• Thursday, March 28, 2024

Coronavirus

Experts urge Maharashtra, epicentre of India’s devastating second Covid wave, to prepare for possible third wave

A coronavirus patient rests on a bed at a school which has been converted into a Covid-19 care facility on the outskirts of Mumbai in the Indian state of Maharashtra. (Photo by Fariha Farooqui/Getty Images)

By: Shubham Ghosh

Shubham Ghosh

HEALTH officials in western Indian state of Maharashtra have appealed to the authorities to gear up against a possible third wave of coronavirus infections as lockdowns imposed in the state were being eased less than a month after a devastating second wave killed thousands.

Maharashtra, which is India’s richest and the second-most populous state, has been the epicentre of the second wave. Nearly six million people have been affected in the state (India has about 30 million) and it was after a prolonged lockdown lasting for a few months that the state has lifted many curbs in its cities, including capital Mumbai, this week. Shopping malls, movie theatres, restaurants and gyms have been allowed to re-open but with a limited attendance but the experts have cautioned that preparations for a possible third wave should remain in place.

Experts urge Maharashtra, epicentre of India's devastating second Covid wave, to prepare for possible third wave
Mumbai’s Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Chahal (L) talks with his colleagues in the disaster management room at their headquarters in Mumbai. When Covid-19 arrived in India, few places looked as vulnerable as Mumbai. But a year on, South Asia’s most crowded city has surprised many by tackling a vicious second wave with considerable success. (Photo by PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP via Getty Images)

Rahul Pandit, a member of the state’s Covid task force and a director of Fortis Hospitals Mumbai, told Reuters: “We should have a clear plan, and keep our preparations ready for the next few weeks, whenever the next wave comes.”

“Our efforts should be directed in delaying the wave as much as we can, and even try to prevent it,” he added.

‘Maharashtra to fully emerge from second wave’
Reuters conducted a poll of medical experts that showed that a third wave of infections is expected to hit India by October and while it will be better controlled than the devastating second wave, the pandemic will remain a public health threat for at least one more year.
Pandit said Maharashtra is yet to fully emerge from the second wave despite imposing a lockdown in early April as the surge of caseloads left the healthcare infrastructure crumbling.

On Friday, India reported more than 62,000 new infections while the deaths were recorded at a two-month low of 1,587. However, India, along with Brazil which has the second-highest death toll in the world, is among the countries that are still reporting the highest seven-day daily average number of deaths. In Maharashtra, 117,000 people have died of the virus.

As states across India eased lockdowns, people were seen getting back on the streets and crowding, leaving the experts worried. They have also cautioned that a race to resume business activities could hamper the vaccination efforts in the world’s second-most populous nation.

“The government on its part has to ramp up vaccination to reach a target of 10 million jabs a day and also unleash a blitzkrieg about the advantages of vaccination to overcome vaccine hesitancy,” Harsh Mahajan, president of Nathealth, a grouping of private healthcare providers, told Reuters.

India has been one of the world’s most prominent vaccine makers but yet the pace of its vaccination has been alarmingly slow.

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