New Delhi: As people get ready to eat out and shop, 3rd Covid wave may come in India sooner than anticipated, a survey said.
According to the survey conducted by LocalCircles, thirty-one per cent of citizens plan to visit a restaurant, while 29 per cent plan to visit malls in the next 60 days risking the arrival of Covid-19 third wave earlier than predicted.
In addition, 75 per cent of Indian households expect visitors like domestic help, service providers etc. to their homes in the next 30 days.
As many as 43 per cent are expecting visits from friends and relatives who do not stay with them, while 27 per cent are expecting friends, neighbours and colleagues to visit them in the next 30 days.
According to LocalCircles, given the known air-borne transmission of the SARS-COV2 strains, all the above activities without adhering to the guidelines, both by the business owners and the citizens, are likely to accelerate the spread of Covid and a possible third wave may be coming sooner than anticipated.
"The government's Covid task force has stated that it is premature to presume that the country is out of danger as the possibility of a third wave is high", the survey said.
"The doctors have warned that we cannot be fully out of danger till most of the population is vaccinated, which is a long way away given that only 250 million doses have been administered in a nation with a population of 1.4 billion," it added.
"India experienced difficult consequences for its negligence in April and May with almost 60 per cent individuals having someone in their social network getting impacted by the second wave of the pandemic", the survey said.
On the other hand, according to a Reuters news agency’s poll of medical experts, a third wave of coronavirus infections is likely to hit India by October.
"Although it will be better controlled than the latest outbreak the pandemic will remain a public health threat for at least another year", experts told Reuters.
Of those who ventured a prediction, at least 85 percent of respondents, or 21 of 24, said the next wave will hit by October, including three who forecast it as early as August and 12 in September. The remaining three said between November and February.
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