As India sees the second wave of cases, the coronavirus pandemic is likely to continue in 2021. The cases are expected to rise further for some months.
Coronavirus to Spillover in 2021
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi Director Dr Randeep Guleria, said that the virus had reached small cities and rural areas. Considering India’s population, the cases are bound to increase in the future. However, the curve will be flatter instead of steep. Further, he added the cases will be more in absolute numbers but low in terms of cases per million.
Coronavirus Cases Surges as Well as Re-surges
Dr Guleria asserted that several parts of the country are witnessing a resurgence in the number of cases. It is partly because of testing capacity and due to the changing behaviour of people towards the pandemic. He said that the country is testing around 10 million cases per day which is facilitating to pick up more cases. However, people are gathering in crowds, not wearing masks and traffic has returned to the pre-corona level. Subsequently, it will increase the number of cases.
No Reopening of Schools and Avoid Gatherings
On the reopening of schools, the chief member of the special task force on COVID-19 said that we could not expect small children to follow social distancing and wear masks all the time. So, the reopening of schools is off the table for some time. Regarding the resumption services, he stated that people must sanitize hands and wear masks while travelling. Further, he expressed concerns over jam-packed metros. Besides, he advised avoiding even small gatherings as the chances of getting an infection are more in crowds.
In all, people must not act irresponsibly and must wear masks and sanitize hands frequently to prevent the spreading of COVID infection.