American health expert says India will hit peak in February with third wave

iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-

 

As India is in the margin of the third wave, states across the country are taking preventive measures to stop the spread that could go out of control like the second wave.

The cases are slowly on the rise in each state and in regards to hitting the peak, an American health expert said that India is expected to register about 5 lakh cases, which is likely to come in February.

Dr Christopher Murray, a Director from Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation, Washington said that Omicron is less severe and will lead to less hospitalization and deaths compared to the Delta variant.

Experts across the world have different views about the Omicron variant with World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 appears to be a less severe disease than the Delta strain, but it does not mean it should be categorized as “mild”.

Saying that the Omicron variant is hospitalizing and killing people, just like previous ones, Dr Tedros said that the tsunami of cases is so huge and quick, that it is overwhelming health systems around the world.

“Hospitals are becoming overcrowded and understaffed, which further results in preventable deaths from not only COVID-19 but other diseases and injuries where patients cannot receive timely care,” he added.

India is witnessing the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and there will be an upward curve of the number of cases and then it will gradually go down.

“The severity of the disease when compared to the second wave, it is clinically less severe. So far we can see, patients recover in five-six days,” an Indian health expert told ANI.

The symptoms are just like flu such as fever and weakness, Dr Rupali Basu, MD and CEO, Woodlands Hospital, Kolkata said.

Loss of smell and taste might have in some patients, she added.