 Director Randeep Guleria on Tuesday said that it is likely that India may see a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic if the virus continues to evolve further and develops an immune escape mechanism.){kind=link}
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Randeep Guleria on Tuesday said that it is likely that India may see a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic if the virus continues to evolve further and develops an immune escape mechanism.
The AIIMS director said that there is no point of imposing the night curfews and weekend lockdowns to curb Covid-19 cases as they hardly work. Some states have imposed temporary restrictions to bring down the Covid-19 cases infections and control the spread of the virus, but Guleria rejected them.
When asked if a nationwide shutdown is the only option left in view of the Covid-19 emergency in India, leaving the health system of the country in splits. The unprecedented second wave of the deadly pandemic has overwhelmed hospitals and caused a crisis of resources such as oxygen, ventilator beds etc, Randeep Guleria said a lockdown for a sufficient duration is needed to cut virus transmission.
In an interview with India Today TV, Randeep Guleria said three things need to be looked at here. The first is improving the hospital infrastructure. The second is decreasing the number of cases in an aggressive way and the third, rolling out of vaccines. We have to break the chain of transmission. If we decrease the close contact between humans, there is a possibility that the cases will come down.
Randeep Guleria said the policy makers have to decide whether the lockdown should be state level or larger level—depending on the criteria. They have to organise everything in terms livelihood, essential services should be maintained and at the same time they have to look after those people who are daily wage workers.
He further added that there is no point in weekend lockdowns and night curfews. The lockdown has to be aggressive for a sufficient period of time.