Regarding the current rise in virus cases, experts said it is too early to say if it can be called another wave of COVID-19 in the city. They cited two main reasons behind the rise — people not following social distancing and not wearing masks.
Delhi government officials said they have not found too many clusters of cases. “The cases are scattered. There are cases where multiple people from the same house test positive but not large clusters outside it,” said an official.
“The current surge in cases is not just seen in Delhi, but across the country. There are mutations to the virus and people who were not infected before are getting infected. There are no large-scale reports of reinfection, which shows that the mutated virus is not infecting people who already had the disease,” said Jugal Kishore, head of community medicine department of Safdarjung Hospital.
But Dr. Kishore also said: “We do not exactly know whether the mutated virus will cause reinfection. Also, studies have shown that the antibodies vanish in many cases after six months and sufficient memory T cells are not there to protect from a fresh attack of the virus.”
He said not following COVID-19 appropriate behaviour is leading to the virus spreading again. “In the past one year, people did not make the behaviour a part of their lives. If they do not stick to social distancing and wearing of masks, Delhi can very well have a Maharashtra-like situation,” he added.
K. Srinath Reddy, epidemiologist, and president of Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Delhi, also said people going back to their pre-COVID-19 behaviour is the main reason for the spike in cases.
“By January, cases were down and people got a feeling that we have attained some ‘protection’ from the virus and we were free from the major threat. This has led to not following social distancing and wearing of masks,” Dr. Reddy said, adding that indoor crowds have increased and it is more dangerous than the outdoor ones, which keep moving.