The daily number of COVID-19 infections in the country has declined in the last few months and vaccination efforts have also been ramped up. 

However, health experts have maintained their warnings of the pandemic being far from over. Everyone is wondering if India will witness a third wave of the pandemic, and if so, then when.

To be better prepared for the third wave, let's have a look at what lessons can be inferred from the second wave of the pandemic in India.

Learnings From The COVID-19 Second Wave

1. Vaccination is the key. The patterns of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world and in India have made it clear that vaccination is the most effective way out of the pandemic. 

Vaccines help in averting serious illness and death, reducing the transmission of the infection, and preventing the emergence of new and more infectious virus strains. 

More and more people need to be vaccinated to safeguard the population from repeated COVID-19 outbreaks and ensure herd immunity (indirect protection from an infectious disease when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to an infection).

2. Maintaining COVID-19 precautionary measures is important. It can be argued that the second wave hit India so hard because most people had started behaving as if the pandemic was over, and stopped being careful, especially in public. Masks had come off, physical distancing measures were not being followed, and crowds gathered as soon as official rules were relaxed. 

To help stop the spread of the Coronavirus, it is important to continue to adopt COVID-19 appropriate behaviour such as wearing a mask and double masking when needed, maintaining physical distancing, washing hands and sanitising surfaces, following respiratory etiquette, and staying home unless stepping out is absolutely necessary. 

The third wave will hopefully be less damaging if more people follow these basic COVID-19-related measures. 

3. The mutant virus strains need to be studied. Although this is an aspect that the general public cannot do much about, it is important to note that the Coronavirus is mutating rapidly, especially in unvaccinated individuals. 

These mutations (changes in genetic material) are giving rise to new and more infectious forms of the virus, which are said to be behind the rising number of cases globally and in India. 

The COVID-19 vaccines may not be as effective against the mutant forms as they are against the unmutated Coronavirus and this might derail any strategy to provide long-term immunity to the population and end this pandemic. 

Thus, COVID-19 positive samples need to be analysed for new mutants. The mutants need to be genetically sequenced and studied to develop an efficient plan of action to tackle the mutants.

The learnings from the second wave of the pandemic have emphasised the need to take all possible pre-emptive measures to be carefully prepared for encountering a possibly severe third wave of the pandemic. 

The Checklist: Tackle The Third Wave

Here is a list of resources you may need in order to prepare for the third wave of the pandemic. 

  • List of items to stock at home

    • Masks (Reusable and surgical)

    • Sanitisers

    • Surface disinfectants

    • Pulse Oximeters

  • List of resources to be kept handy

    • Contact Number of your doctor. 

    • A list of nearby hospitals that admit COVID-19 patients.

    • A resource to find COVID-19 beds in hospitals in your city. You can find beds for COVID-19 patients on Practo’s COVID-19 Hospital Bed Finder platform.

    • A list of COVID-19 vaccination centres in your city and constant follow up on relevant platforms to register yourself for vaccination if you are not yet fully vaccinated. 

  • List of things to do

    • Discuss with your family about an external point of contact in case of emergency and share their details with everyone in the family.

    • Talk to an extended family member, friend, or acquaintance who can take care of your house and/or any pets in case you or one or more members of your family falls ill.

    • Keep your health insurance documentation ready in the event of sudden hospital admission. 

The pandemic is far from over, and everyone should contribute to this fight against COVID-19 in whatever capacity they can. 

Apart from ensuring your well-being and that of your loved ones, take an extra compassionate step to ascertain that you do not put others at risk with an activity or omission. Stay home and stay safe. 


References:

1. Center For Global Development. 2021. Lessons from India: When COVID-19 Cases are Low, Prepare for the Next Wave. [online] Available at: <https://www.cgdev.org/blog/lessons-india-when-covid-19-cases-are-low> [Accessed 10 August 2021].

2. Thadani, A., 2021. Second wave of COVID-19: Causes and solutions | ORF. [online] ORF. Available at: <https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/second-wave-covid-19-causes-solutions/> [Accessed 10 August 2021].


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