Covid cases in India will start declining in few weeks but...: AIIMS doctor
PremiumAIIMS doctor said the Omicron virus is highly infectious and it is going to increase herd immunity.
As India reports an exponential surge in daily covid numbers, doctors and experts across the country are advising people to not panic and focus on following covid protocols religiously. Dr PS Chandra, Professor, Neurosurgery, AIIMS in Delhi said that the COVID-19 cases rising cases will start declining in a few weeks, but caution is important and we should prepare for the worst while hoping for the best.
The silver lining
"There are reasons to believe that this will be over within weeks, As it has happened in Africa and South Africa hardly has any cases as of now numbers are reducing. So these are the silver lining but again, we have to be cautious for a couple of reasons. First, it is very, very infectious. So obviously you know we should not let our guard down. So continue masking, continue social distancing, then continue working from home. Avoid any kind of unnecessary travel, avoid any kind of unnecessary gathering, public gathering is to be completely discouraged. So all these things have to be continued," said Dr Chandra while speaking to ANI.
Increase in herd immunity
"There are certain several silver lining to it, and we should go forward with a sense of caution. And our strategy should be that we prepare for the worst and hope for the best. A large number of people are asymptomatic, which is good in a way because it's likely to increase the herd immunity, so more people, you know, get infected and they're completely asymptomatic. Obviously, it's going to form that immunological barrier to prevent the further stretch and again, lastly, but not the least, because it's highly infectious," he said.
Hospital infra inadequate
"The second concern we have is that because we have a huge population. So even if one per cent of the population would require hospitalization that would be a huge number. We don't want our hospital infrastructure to collapse. And from that perspective, it becomes the responsibility of each and every citizen. They should not let their guard down saying that it's only a mild infection. So they have to be careful not just for themselves, but also for the entire community. You do not want to increase the burden on the community. So that all our hospital beds are clogged," he added.
The single-day rise in coronavirus infections was recorded above one lakh after 214 days, taking India's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,52,26,386 which includes 3,007 cases of Omicron reported across 27 states and UTs, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
Out of the total Omicron cases reported so far, 1,199 people have recovered or migrated.
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