Doctor allays Covid surge fears, advises precaution

Lakshmi Prasad | NT

Bengaluru: Days after protesters took to the streets over China's strict "zero-Covid" policy, experts say the government may soon face bigger Covid-19 containment challenges than it did in the last three year what with surging cases of the dreaded virus.

India’s Covid-19 tally on the other hand may have increased only to 4,46,76,330 on Wednesday with 131 fresh infections, while the number of active cases came down to 3,408, according to the Union health ministry data.

The toll due to the viral disease inflated to 5,30,680 with three more fatalities, including two deaths reported in Kerala and one in West Bengal in the last 24 hours. Active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections. The national Covid-19 recovery rate increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the ministry’s website.

When speaking to working and non-working citizens here regarding the upheaval of Covid in China and its possible effects on India, Dr Raghu Gowda said, “As of now, we don’t know what variant it is or if it is more prevalent than the previous ones. This is going to be more difficult to manage because people now believe Covid has left for good.

As a medical professional, I say that we still have to fight against it with the same professionalism we did earlier. Be it my maintaining social distancing, isolation when necessary or getting vaccinated. The bottom line is that people must adhere to the Covid protocols, for that is the only way we can assure ourselves of safety against it.”

“The first thing that Covid impacts is economics, and as it is many households fall under the financial crisis these days. The situation could get even more appalling,” reacted a worried local. Another citizen said, “Covid cases are rising again, thus causing a lot of distress and disturbing the balance of my home. My career, to which multiple duties I shoulder, is again at stake. I am back to feeling very apprehensive about the safety of my family and myself.”

Geetha Srinivas, a teacher in Bengaluru, said, “If Covid cases augment further, I shudder at the impact it’ll have on my mental health as anxiety and depression will increase. Moreover, there is a possibility of those who weren’t affected previously going down to the virus.”