PUNE: Districts that were severely impacted by the second Covid wave may not see an equally intense third wave, an analysis by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said.
Experts from the top science body said states should conduct district-level heterogeneity assessments — that include variations in spread and population — to plan public health measures based on local data.
Samiran Panda, senior epidemiologist and head of ICMR’s Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Division, said states like Maharashtra should look into district-level heterogeneity to formulate region and population-appropriate responses. “Talking about a third wave across the entire state may not be helpful as all districts didn’t experience the second wave uniformly. We need district-level infection control and management programmes,” he said.
He said this also means that districts that didn’t experience an intense second wave may now have a significant number of vulnerable people.
“It is essential to have vaccination saturation among priority groups in these districts. It’s also important to create an environment that’s not conducive for viral spread as such regions may see a third wave that takes off from the descending arm of the second,” he said.
Maharashtra state task force member Shashank Joshi called for district-wise serosurveys, with particular focus on regions that were less affected during the second wave.
Experts from the top science body said states should conduct district-level heterogeneity assessments — that include variations in spread and population — to plan public health measures based on local data.
Samiran Panda, senior epidemiologist and head of ICMR’s Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Division, said states like Maharashtra should look into district-level heterogeneity to formulate region and population-appropriate responses. “Talking about a third wave across the entire state may not be helpful as all districts didn’t experience the second wave uniformly. We need district-level infection control and management programmes,” he said.
He said this also means that districts that didn’t experience an intense second wave may now have a significant number of vulnerable people.
“It is essential to have vaccination saturation among priority groups in these districts. It’s also important to create an environment that’s not conducive for viral spread as such regions may see a third wave that takes off from the descending arm of the second,” he said.
Maharashtra state task force member Shashank Joshi called for district-wise serosurveys, with particular focus on regions that were less affected during the second wave.
