All You Need To Know About 3rd wave of Corona Virus in India

Corona Virus (COVID-19)WHO first learned of this new virus on 31 December 2019, following a report of a cluster of cases of ‘viral pneumonia’ in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China. is the disease caused by a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2.

When the coronavirus pandemic began early in 2020, experts wondered if there would be waves of cases, a pattern seen in other virus pandemics. The overall pattern, so far, has been one of increasing cases of COVID-19, with a surge in the summer and a larger one in the fall. Some locations that saw a high number of coronavirus infections early on, followed by a decline, are having a “second wave” of increased cases.

Now Health authorities have been warning of a possible third wave of Covid-19 infections.

How would one identify a third wave, if it comes?

The third wave currently under discussion refers to a possible surge in cases at the national level. The national curve seems to have entered a declining phase now, after having peaked on May 6. In the last two weeks, the daily case count has dropped to about 2.6 lakh from the peak of 4.14 lakh, while the active cases have come down to 32.25 lakh, after touching a high of 37.45 lakh. If current trends continue, it is expected that by August,India would reach the same level of case counts as in February.

If there is a fresh surge after that, and continues for a few weeks or months, it would get classified as the third wave.

How severe will 3rd Covid wave be?

At a time when India has barely put behind the horrors of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic , Maharashtra has sounded alert for the third wave. Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 was held responsible for towering second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The Delta variant had been first reported from Maharashtra last year.

Classified as a variant of concern (VoC). Delta Plus variant was first detected in Europe in March this year. It has been isolated in some samples in India and around 10 other countries. Delta Plus is a new version of its mutant variant Delta.

It is, however, not known whether Delta Plus variant is more infectious or fatal compared to the Delta variant. Delta variant has been found to be deadlier and capable of causing more severe Covid-19, leading to higher rate of hospitalisation of patients.

Every successful mutation helps a virus or any other organism thrive better. This is principally why Delta Plus variant of SARS-CoV-2 has become a worry for an anticipated third wave, which can be prevented or mitigated at least on the basis of lessons learnt from the past two waves of Covid-19 pandemic.

There has been some speculation about the third wave being even stronger than the second. While one expert says 3rd wave won’t be as severe as the 2nd, another expert talks of a possibility of a new variant that will bypass the immunity achieved through vaccination and previous infection.

According to an estimate, the third wave of Corona is considered more dangerous than the 1st and 2nd wave so far.

While a large number of people now have immunity against coronavirus due to previous infections or vaccination, a guarded approach is needed in terms of implementing restrictive measures to avoid a second wave-like crisis, experts said.

Symptoms of COVID-19?

Fever

Dry cough

Fatigue

Symptoms of severe COVID‐19 disease include:

Shortness of breath,
Loss of appetite,
Confusion,
Persistent pain or pressure in the chest,
High temperature (above 38 °C).

Does 3rd COVID-19 affect children?

COVID-19 is a new virus, and we are still learning about how it affects children and pregnant women. We know people of any age can be infected and transmit the virus. However, older people and/or those with pre-existing medical conditions seem more likely to develop severe illness. Cold, mild cough, fever, and body pain are the common symptoms of infection. We have also noted that other symptoms such as pain in the abdomen, loose motions, and vomiting are also present in children.

Clinical features or symptoms affecting children and adolescents, possibly associated with COVID-19, can include but are not limited to: fever, headache, body pain, tiredness, cough, breathlessness, poor feeding, loss of taste or smell (in a child more than eight years old), rash, red or pink eyes, swollen and/or red lips, tongue, hands, feet, gastrointestinal problems (diarrhoea, vomiting).