Jobaaj Stories
Omicron update: Friday reported 141,986 new COVID-19 cases in India, this is the highest since June.
The virus is yet again ready to grip the world in its claws as it has already forced lockdowns and night curfews in many countries.
India too has imposed the night curfew in many states.
New studies have predicted that this wave of the pandemic might peak by January end or early February. The curve is expected to flatline by the end of March. The information is procured by the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore.
Although so far, the Omicron strain has had lesser casualties than the previous variants, its volume has surpassed all its predecessors.
During the second wave, the cases had peaked at over 400,000 per day. With the Omicron strain, experts predict that the peak daily cases could very well go over to a million per day in India.
Although the data suggest that the Omicron variant itself isn't as deadly in nature as its previous variants thus leading to fewer casualties and hospitalizations.
Even in that case, the sheer number of cases might lead to a strain on the medical infrastructure of the country. Even if the hospitalization rate is half of what it was before, the number of cases is predicted to be more than double what they were before.
The question that remains is whether our healthcare system is recovered enough to face another onslaught of the pandemic.
As for precautions, some Indian states have already begun to impose night and weekend curfews to curb the situation.
The state of Maharashtra is expected to begin lockdown restrictions as soon as 40% of the state's Covid beds are occupied.
Economic experts believe that the economic deterioration won't be as intense as it was in the second wave, based on the previous years' estimates.
