Second Covid wave not over, daily cases still above 40,000: AIIMS chief

'It is important for everyone to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour. If we follow this, then another wave will not come,' says Randeep Guleria

The second wave of Coronavirus pandemic is not yet over and the third wave depends on the Covid-19 appropriate behaviour by the people, said Randeep Guleria, the Director of Delhi AIIMS, on Friday.

"I would suggest that people should understand that the second wave of the pandemic is not over yet. Daily, we are getting more than 40,000 cases. It is important for everyone to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour. If we follow this, then another wave will not come," Dr Guleria told ANI.

The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic started in April with single day Coronavirus cases breaching four lakh mark with a spike in fatalities. The deadly wave, however, started receding in mid-May even as some experts warned of a subsequent wave in August-September. The AIIMS chief, however, said the impact could be lesser.

"If the third wave comes, then also it will be mild only if people follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour," said Dr Guleria, at a function while inaugurating a CISF-organised blood donation camp under 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' initiative to mark the 75 years of of India's independence.

"No better service than blood donation to celebrate India's 75 years. About 1500 people have donated so far," he said.

Earlier, IITs of Kanpur and Hyderabad had also predicted another outbreak or the third wave of Covid-19 around mid-August, saying it may peak up in October depending on the type of the virus' variant. If it's more infectious, then cases can increase like the first wave, the premier institutes had predicted.

In an interview with ANI, Gagandeep Kang, a top Indian microbiologist and virologist said that the third wave depends on the type of virus' variants or strains.

"I think a lot depends on whether the wave is driven by variants, or driven by strains, if it's driven by variants, then it becomes very difficult to predict what numbers are likely to be," Dr Kang told ANI.

She also said that if the wave is driven by strain then the number of cases will be low.

"If it's driven by strains, then we know that numbers are likely to be low. I am actually not very sure about the timing of the third wave or whether we will have the third wave in August or September at all," Dr Kang added.

The coronavirus was first detected in China's Wuhan in 2019 and the virus has swept the world since then. There have been 204,644,849 confirmed cases of the infection, including 4,323,139 deaths, reported to WHO.

"We know that this is a virus that is dependent on the environment and I think what we are seeing from other parts of the world is that there may be some seasonal elements to this virus. We have to go through another winter and see that how this plays out, in determining how much we see and when," said Kang said.

India on Friday reported 40,120 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours.