New Delhi (NVI): Two days after creating a sensation by saying that the third wave of coronvirus is “inevitable”, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Central government K Vijay Raghavan today changed tune to say that it may not take place “if we take strong measures”.
“If we take strong measures, the third wave may not happen in all the places or indeed anywhere at all. It depends much on how effectively the guidance is implemented at the local level, in the states, in districts and in the cities everywhere,” he said at a media briefing here.
On Wednesday, Raghavan had said the country should prepare for “more waves” of Covid and that a third wave was “inevitable”.
“Phase three (of Covid) is inevitable, given the higher levels of circulating virus. But it is not clear what time or on what scale this phase three will occur. We should prepare for new waves,” he had said on that day during media briefing.
His comments had created a huge sensation in the country, with many questioning whether the government was prepared to meet that challenge while the second wave is already becoming too much to handle.
Many also questioned if the Scientific Advisor to the government was so sure about the third wave, why didn’t he predict the second wave which is causing havoc in the country.
People also questioned that if he knew about the second wave, then why the government did not prepare for it.
Meanwhile, the central government said the covid positivity rate of above 15 per cent was being witnessed in 24 states and 5-15 per cent in 9 states.
At least 12 states have over 1 lakh active COVID-19 cases while seven have 50,000 to 1 lakh active cases.
Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Odisha are among states showing increasing trend in daily new COVID-19 cases while Maharashtra, UP, Delhi and Chhattisgarh are among states, UTs showing continued flattening or decrease in daily COVID-19 cases, it said.
