Has Covid-19 fourth wave started in India? New survey finds out what Indians think

NEW DELHI: Amid the rising number of Covid-19 cases and growing concerns about the fourth wave of coronavirus hitting the country, a new survey has found that one in every three Indians believes that the fourth wave has indeed hit the Indian shores.

The survey was conducted by the community social media platform LocalCircles, according to which at least 55 per cent of respondents appeared confident that health experts in the country can very well manage the Covid-19 situation and there was no need to panic.

The survey conducted by LocalCircles received 36,000 responses from citizens across 341 districts of India. Replying to a question about the fourth wave, 34 per cent of respondents said it has already begun in April, while another 29 per cent said "not likely in 2022" and four per cent said, "not for six months at least".

The results of the survey were released on Wednesday which also coincided with a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi o the current Covid-19 situation in the country. It may be noted that there has been a spike in the daily Covid-19 cases, with Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) being the epicentre of the Covid-19 surge.

According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported as many as 2,927 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours with a daily positivity rate of 0.58 per cent. The death toll has climbed to 5,23,654 with 32 more fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

While reviewing the Covid situation, the PM said that vaccination of all eligible children at the earliest is a priority for the government and specialised programmes will need to be conducted for it in schools. While interacting with chief ministers on the emerging Covid-19 situation in the country, PM Modi asserted that it is clear that the threat of coronavirus is not fully gone yet.

Citing the rise in COVID-19 cases in some states in the last two weeks, he said there was a need to remain alert. "Our scientists and experts are continuously monitoring the national and global situation. We have to work on their suggestions with a pre-emptive, pro-active and collective approach," he said.

Stopping the infection at the very beginning has been our priority as well and it should remain the same even today. "We have to implement our strategy of Test, Track and Treat equally effectively. In the current situation of coronavirus, it is necessary that we have a 100 per cent RT-PCR test for patients admitted to hospitals who are serious influenza cases.

Asserting that vaccine is the biggest protective shield against the virus,” PM Modi said Covid vaccination of all eligible children at the earliest is a priority for the government and specialised programmes will need to be conducted in schools.

The PM stressed that awareness of parents and children is very important in this regard. His remarks come a day after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said India's drug regulator has granted restricted emergency use authorisation for Biological E's Covid-19 vaccine Corbevax for those aged five to 12 years and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children in the age group of six to 12 years.

Several chief ministers, including West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee, Chhattisgarh's Bhupesh Baghel, Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab's Bhagwant Mann, participated in the interaction.