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Health Summit 2021: Is India Ready To Face The Third Wave Of COVID-19? Here's What Experts Are Predicting

Health Summit 2021: Is India Ready To Face The Third Wave Of COVID-19? Here's What Experts Are Predicting
Health Summit 2021: Is India Ready To Face A Third Wave Of COVID-19? Here's What Experts Are Predicting

Is India ready to face the third wave of COVID-19? What preparation is being taken? Eminent doctors and medical experts in the country shared their invaluable insights on this and more in the second session of the ZeeDigital Health Summit 2021.

Written by Satata Karmakar |Updated : August 7, 2021 10:55 AM IST

As the fear of the third wave of COVID-19 looms large in India, after the country battled two devastating waves of the pandemic and ailing healthcare infrastructure, experts are now claiming that the new wave has already begun and might cause severe complications amongst the infected individuals if proper precautions are not taken. The conversation around health has never been as important as it is today. With daily cases rising rapidly in the country again after a steady fall earlier last month, the most important question lingering in the minds of the commoners is how prepared India is when it comes to handling the third wave of COVID-19. "The COVID-19 pandemic has perhaps been one of the most dreadful and weirdest acts of nature which have ever happened in our lives," said Dr. Ashok Seth, Chairman, Fortis Escort Heart Institute. The Covid-19 pandemic has perhaps been one of the most terrible situations that the world had to face and is still battling. To know how India is preparing to tackle the third wave of COVID-19, we at TheHealthSite conducted a webinar with the country's most repotted and acknowledged doctors and healthcare faculties. Eminent doctors and medical experts in the country shared their invaluable insights on this and more in the second session of the ZeeDigital Health Summit 2021.

Divided into four sections, the second session of the Health Summit 2021 was all about how India is preparing to tackle the third wave. The summit was organized with Coviself as the associate partner, Dell as the technology partner, SBI as the banking partner, Mankind Pharma as the health partner, and Godrej Protekt as the hygiene partner.

The panellists in the second session included Dr Paritosh Baghel, Consultant Internal Medicine, SL Raheja Hospital- Fortis Associate, Dr Rahul Pandit, Director, Critical Care Services, Fortis Hospitals, Mumbai, and Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, Group Medical Director, Max Healthcare. Dr Randeep Guleria, Director AIIMS, Dr Sushila Kataria, Senior Director, Internal Medicine, Medanta and Prof (Dr) Ashok Seth, chairman, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute also shared their insights on how India is preparing to tackle the third wave.

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What Is Going To Be The Key In Managing Third Wave In India?

As India sigh relief after fighting the worst healthcare battle against novel coronavirus in the second wave of the infection, experts now say the virus is still here and it is the responsibility of the common people to protect ourselves, to make sure that we don't spread the virus further, to make sure that we are not helping the virus to mutate and cause more challenges for the healthcare workers and experts. Speaking at TheHealthSite Summit 2021, Dr. Ashok Seth, Chairman, Fortis Escort Heart Institute said, "It's time to get together to understand that vaccination is an important tool to ward off the virus. And there should be no hesitancy at all about getting the jabs. Other important things to keep in mind are double masking, proper sanitation, and no unnecessary crowding is going to be the key where we will be able to demolish the virus completely from the world."

Is India Ready To Face The Third Wave of COVID-19?

The second wave of COVID-19 in India had a devastating impact on mankind. It limited the health infrastructure not just in the country but also challenged the healthcare workers around the globe. It gave us the pictures of unimaginable pain and suffering of the people from every corner. There was also a shortage of everything from oxygen to medicines, to hospital beds, and unfortunately even space to conduct the last rites of the deceased individuals. Now, that there are predictions about a third wave,

India's surveillance system has improved majorly after the second wave of coronavirus. This can help the country deal better with the new variants of the deadly virus. Emphasizing the development in COVID-19 management, the experts have stated that India is better prepared to tackle an upcoming wave in the country. "We are now hopefully getting past our [Covid-19] pandemic... and the economic activities will be strengthened as we get into the second half of this (fiscal) year given what I have seen for example various indicators, including the mobility indicators," said NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar.

Preparing For The Third Wave In India

At the moment we are seeing a resurgence in the Covid cases in the USA and in the UK we recently had a spike in cases. How threatening is it for India and how is the country preparing for the third wave? Let's hear it from the experts.

Is India really going to face the third wave? "What we have seen in the second wave is that the virus can hit us very hard and this is only because of the deadly mutations in the virus. So these mutations are normal and are going to happen for the SARS Cov2 as well. Therefore yes, there is a strong chance for India to face the third wave," said Dr. Baghel, Consultant, SL Raheja Hospital. "The best way to tackle the third wave in India is to get vaccinated as early as possible, said Dr. Pandit, Director Fortis Hospital.

The other things to keep in mind according to the experts is to maintain proper Covid behaviour which includes social distancing, wearing masks, and alertness. India is prepared to face the third wave but everyone needs to understand that to defeat the virus one needs to follow proper protocols. And some administrative decisions are also required to be introduced.

What are the administrative initiatives that can be taken? "It is easier said than done. The best way to stop the spread is by putting a micro lockdown. However, here are some of the things that the administration should implement right now are:

Impose strict lockdown if your area's test positivity rate is higher than normal which is 5%. The second one is vaccination. The vaccination drive is slow, the country is not able to vaccinate the entire population. The third being the available infrastructure in your district or state is getting stretched because of the number of cases coming positive. All of these three things need to be taken into consideration in order to tackle the third wave better.

COVID-19 Is Not Over Yet, Do Not Let Your Guard Down

"We all have seen how deadly the second wave was and to avert the same thing happening again in the country, we have increased our vaccination drive across the states, we have better Covid management system which will help us achieve herd immunity against the virus," the experts said. Is India really ready what should one be doing? While the second wave appears to be gradually receding, experts have warned that the third Covid wave is imminent and inevitable. And so, even after vaccination, it is advisable to continue taking all precautions like wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds.