Guwahati: T Jacob John, a virologist, claims that the third wave of Covid has finished in India, and that there would be no fourth wave until a completely new variation emerges.
According to Dr. Jacob John, the country has returned to endemic status, and a fourth wave is not imminent.
While addressing to national media reports, John said “I say [entered endemic phase] because my definition of an endemic state is “low and consistent daily numbers with only small changes, if any, for at least four weeks.” My own assumption, and thus my view, is that the endemic phase will go longer than four weeks. This confidence comes from the fact that all states in India are seeing the same pattern.”
“There will be no fourth wave until an unanticipated variety emerges that performs differently than alpha, beta, gamma, or Omicron,” he added.
India on Tuesday recorded 3,993 new coronavirus infections, the lowest number in 662 days. All previous pandemics of respiratory-transmitted diseases, according to Dr. John, have been caused by influenza, and each pandemic has terminated after two or three waves.
“SARS-CoV-2 will continue to evolve mutations, and it is possible that some of these changes could cause antigenic drift, resulting in modest outbreaks – which will be few and far between,” he said.
He also emphasised the importance of illness surveillance and virus gene sequencing to ensure that no mutations go unnoticed.