Covid second wave: Next three weeks crucial for India, says CSIR- CCMB director
PremiumMishra emphasised that people must follow the guidelines very strictly to prevent themselves from being infected with COVID-19.
The next three weeks are crucial for India in terms of the spread of COVID-19, said Dr Rakesh Mishra, Director of CSIR- CCMB (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology), adding that it is very important for people to follow guidelines very strictly.
Mishra emphasised that people must follow the guidelines very strictly to prevent themselves from being infected with COVID-19.
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1 min read . 09:40 AM IST"The next 3 weeks are very critical for India in terms of the spread of the infection. People should take utmost care and precautions," he told ANI.
Regarding the dearth of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and vaccines, Dr Mishra said that if the situation continues, the country will be in a disastrous state.
"We have seen this kind of situation in Italy, where many people have lost their lives on the corridors of hospitals due to lack of treatment medicine and oxygen cylinders. Last year, healthcare workers were very effective in handling the situation," he said.
Speaking about the increasing number of COVID-19 positive cases in the country Dr Mishra said that the second wave was very much expected.
"On many occasions over the past few months, many medical intellectuals, have been saying that the virus and its impact is just low and has not been completely wiped out. We should have been a bit more prepared for this kind of situation," he said.
He further said that the reason cases are increasing day by day is because people have stopped taking care of themselves by not putting on masks, and thinking that it has gone completely.
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5 min read . 09:59 AM IST"People will be infected without knowing and will go back to their home towns and further spread the virus to most of the villages, thus resulting in the spread to even more people," he said.
"After a thorough air sampling of the coronavirus, it has been found that the virus can spread through air. It can move upto 20 feet in a closed area. Wearing a mask can keep one 80 to 90 per cent safe. If the other person is also wearing a mask, then one can be 99 per cent safe," he added.
The COVID-19 situation in India continues to deteriorate, as the country yet again reported the highest single-day spike of coronavirus cases with over 2.73 lakh fresh infections and 1,619 deaths in the last 24 hours.
According to the Health Ministry, India reported at least 2,73,810 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of positive cases in the country to 1,50,61,919. There are currently 19,29,329 active cases in the country as of Monday.
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