COVID-19 third wave likely to hit India by February: IIT scientist

With Omicron, the new variant of SARS-CoV2, the third wave of coronavirus could hit the peak by February with cases likely to be reaching up to 1-1.5 lakh a day in the country, IIT scientist has warned.

Manindra Agarwal, IIT scientist involved in the mathematical projection of trajectory of COVID-19, however, said that it will be milder than the second wave. He said in the new forecast, the new Omicron variant has been factored in.

“With the new variant, our current forecast is that the country could see the third wave by February but it will be milder than the second wave. So far we have seen that the severity of Omicron is not like the one seen in the Delta variant,” Agarwal was quoted telling news agency PTI.

He, however, said a close eye is being kept on cases in South Africa where many cases of this variant have been recorded.

Agarwal added that as of now South Africa has not seen a rise in hospitalisation. He said a fresh set of data on the virus and hospitalisations would help in getting a more solid picture.

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