Covid going out of hands in India, country reports massive surge in fresh cases

When the first wave of Covid hit nations all across the world, Anthony Fauci, a top US health expert had claimed that the coronavirus pandemic is a perfect storm with no end in near sight. And now, after two years of the outbreak, it has become clear that the words of Fauci were true, as new variants of the Covid pandemic are wreaking havoc in several countries. After Delta and Delta Plus, it is the Omicron variant that is spreading drastically in various nations, and in the United States, this highly transmissible variant has already become the dominant strain. 

India is another country where the third wave of the pandemic is hitting with full fury. The country is reporting a massive surge in fresh cases, and on Saturday, the country witnessed 27,553 fresh positive cases. 

The third wave of the pandemic confirmed in India 

Until December 2021, India has shown strong signs of flattening the Covid chaos curve. However, the rate of infections over the past few days clearly indicates that the third wave of the pandemic has hit the nation, and according to the latest updates, there are more than 1,500 fresh Omicron cases in the nation. The number of Omicron cases could be much higher, as genome sequencing is not being carried out widely in the nation. 

Mumbai is the worst affected city in the third wave of the pandemic. Fresh cases are sky-rocketing in the nation's financial capital. On Saturday, Mumbai reported 5,631 fresh cases, the highest in the last eight months. Alarmingly, the test positivity rate (TPR) has also shot up to over 11 percent in Mumbai. 

In Mumbai, there are currently 125 active sealed buildings, and until December 25, the number of active sealed buildings was just 22. 

Omicron explosion awaits India

Meanwhile, a top expert at Cambridge University who had previously predicted the second wave of the pandemic in India has warned that the country will witness a record surge in Omicron cases in the coming days. 

"It is likely that India will see a period of explosive growth in daily cases and that the intense growth phase will be relatively short. New infections will begin to rise in a few days, possibly within this week," said Paul Kattuman, professor at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge.