With Hong Kong reporting 32,597 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday and a record 117 deaths in the past 24 hours, it is witnessing daily infections surge over 30 times from just over 100 at the start of February, there is a possible fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic there and residents are bracing for a city-wide lockdown, emptying supermarkets and pharmacies.
This comes even as most of the countries around the globe have eased Covid-19 restrictions, including India and life is slowly limping back to normalcy.
However, recent research conducted by some scientists of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur showed that India is yet to see its fourth wave of Covid-19 around June, which might continue till October. However, the severity of the wave has not been determined.
The study was conducted by three scientists of IIT - Sabara Parshad Rajeshbhai, Subhra Sankar Dhar and Shalabh. The fourth wave is to hit India exactly after 936 days from the initial data availability date, that is January 30, 2020.
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The study says that there might come a new variant with the fourth wave, however, the intensity will depend on factors like infectibility, fatality, among others. The degree of infection may also vary from person to person depending on their vaccine status.
The study also suggests that the Omicron would continue to evolve creating a new version itself like the Omicron-plus variant.
However, it is pertinent to mention that with a majority of the Indian population being vaccinated with both or at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and by being cautious and vary of our surroundings, there is a possibility the fourth wave could be a averted.
The key is to not let our guards down and those still unvaccinated should get their jabs at the earliest.
