Covid third wave likely to peak in October, Children to get infected: Experts

Bhubaneswar: The children are more likely to get infected in the possible third wave of Covid-19, said Director of DMET CBK Mohanty. He added that the experts have informed that the third wave is likely to hit the country and take a peak in September or October. As a result, the daily Covid infections in India might touch four lakh.

“In case the predicted situation arises in the country, there might a total of 14,000 daily Covid infections in Odisha. Hence, we are more prepared in comparison to what is needed for during third wave,” said DMET Director.

DMET Director also added that all the needful arrangements for the children have been done.

Similarly, it has been predicted that 23 out of 100 Covid-infected children would require hospitalization if the Covid third wave hits in September and takes a peak in October. Currently, the infection rate among children stands at 12%-13%, said the Director of Odisha Health Services, Bijay Mohapatra.

The second wave of Covid-19 took its peak in 64 days. So if the third wave hits in September, we have to wait for its peak period. The second wave of the deadly virus is still underway, he added.

Special arrangements will be made for children in all Covid hospitals. It has been analysed that currently the children have a less severity of coronavirus infection and we the daily infection rate of children is being analyzed each day, said Director of Health Services.

He further added that since last three days no Covid patients have been kept under ventilator support whereas very few children required oxygen support.

On the other hand, the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has warned of a third COVID-19 wave peak in October in its recent report to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The report stressed on vaccinating children with comorbidities and those with disabilities. “The situation is already dire, and might worsen due to lack of adherence to Covid Appropriate Behaviour, insufficient medical facilities and lagging vaccination,” the report added.