AgenciesIndia may witness 1,750 deaths per day due to Covid-19, surging to around 2,320 by the first week of June, according to a report of the Lancet Covid-19 Commission by India Task Force members.
The experts have strongly recommended a temporary ban on gatherings of groups larger than 10 for the next two months.
Significantly, it did not recommend a blanket national or state lockdown, as opposed to localised, phased restrictions or closures.
As per the preliminary review of the report, "while the pandemic has spread, the geographic contours of the second wave closely mirror those of the first wave, though with a deeper penetration into tier-2 and tier-3 cities."
The 20 member expert panel has said that the second wave is different from the first wave in September 2020. “The rate of increase in new cases is significantly higher. The increase from 10,000 to 80,000 new cases per day from February to April has taken less than 40 days. In September, this journey took 83 days,” it said.
The report said that many cases testing positive are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, resulting in relatively low rates of hospitalisation and mortality.
The report, titled "Managing India's second COVID-19 wave: Urgent steps", underlines the key elements of the second Covid-19 wave. It also suggests measures that should be taken now to help mitigate the spread of infection.
The report says that disruptions to regular health services, such as routine immunisation and delivery care, could have devastating consequences for maternal and child survival.
Fiscally, India may need to spend more than $7.8 billion on testing and $1.7 billion on healthcare utilisation due to Covid-19 infections leading to death by September 2021.
Experts suggest an accelerated vaccination drive to combat the spread of Covid-19. “We endorse the target of 5 million daily doses and recommend,” it said.
According to the experts, all adults, including those below 45, with severe co-morbidities into the priority population group, adults with severe co-morbidities (for example, obesity, cancer, cardio-vascular disease, diabetes, renal/kidney failure, pulmonary disease, and HIV infection) are at particular risk to severe Covid-19 and related hospitalisation.
“We recommend that the Government identify a list of critical co-morbidities that allow adult patients with serious medical conditions (like tuberculosis) access to the Covid-19 vaccines,” it said.
The experts have strongly recommended a temporary ban on gatherings of groups larger than 10 for the next two months.
Significantly, it did not recommend a blanket national or state lockdown, as opposed to localised, phased restrictions or closures.
As per the preliminary review of the report, "while the pandemic has spread, the geographic contours of the second wave closely mirror those of the first wave, though with a deeper penetration into tier-2 and tier-3 cities."
The 20 member expert panel has said that the second wave is different from the first wave in September 2020. “The rate of increase in new cases is significantly higher. The increase from 10,000 to 80,000 new cases per day from February to April has taken less than 40 days. In September, this journey took 83 days,” it said.
The report said that many cases testing positive are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, resulting in relatively low rates of hospitalisation and mortality.
The report, titled "Managing India's second COVID-19 wave: Urgent steps", underlines the key elements of the second Covid-19 wave. It also suggests measures that should be taken now to help mitigate the spread of infection.
The report says that disruptions to regular health services, such as routine immunisation and delivery care, could have devastating consequences for maternal and child survival.
Fiscally, India may need to spend more than $7.8 billion on testing and $1.7 billion on healthcare utilisation due to Covid-19 infections leading to death by September 2021.
Experts suggest an accelerated vaccination drive to combat the spread of Covid-19. “We endorse the target of 5 million daily doses and recommend,” it said.
According to the experts, all adults, including those below 45, with severe co-morbidities into the priority population group, adults with severe co-morbidities (for example, obesity, cancer, cardio-vascular disease, diabetes, renal/kidney failure, pulmonary disease, and HIV infection) are at particular risk to severe Covid-19 and related hospitalisation.
“We recommend that the Government identify a list of critical co-morbidities that allow adult patients with serious medical conditions (like tuberculosis) access to the Covid-19 vaccines,” it said.
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10 Comments on this Story
 | Jio Rel5 hours ago Last year also when Covid cases were rising, such reports had predicted cases to touch astronomical numbers. Let's see how right they are this time |
| Somnath Auddy6 hours ago Govt must ensure that age below 45 yrs should be vaccinated without any further delay. Apart from this, it would be a great help for those senior citizens, who r not MOBILE, door- step vaccination could b arranged |
| Satyen Daga7 hours ago Without a strong political willpower and a strong leadership with all states on board working like a synchronized orchestra, we are going to witness a massive destruction of lives and a highly fractured economy, reversing many gains made in last 20 years. And the problem is : All political bosses are busy in politics currently and whatever actions are being taken are with usual slow speed, thus, putting general public in a situation like "Operation Successful, Patient Died" ! |