Third Wave Of COVID-19 Imminent, Warns IMA; Says Tourism, Pilgrimage Can Wait A Few Months

Around the world, several countries are experiencing the third wave of COVID-19. This is happening at a time when the second wave of the pandemic in India is slowing down and except for a few states, the majority have come out of it.

However, there still is a looming threat of the third wave in India too, which many experts say is just a few weeks or months away.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Monday said the third wave of the pandemic is "inevitable and imminent."

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Vaccination must

Making the universal vaccination reach the maximum possible population and strictly adopting Covid appropriate behaviours can mitigate the impact of the third wave, the IMA said in a release.

"The past experience of the last one and half years of war with the virus and based on the emerging evidences it is obvious that with making the universal vaccination reach maximum possible population and strictly adopting to COVID appropriate behaviours we can face the third wave with confidence and mitigate its impact," the release added.

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However, IMA "painfully" noted that at a crucial time when everyone needs to work for the mitigation of the third wave, in many parts of the country "both government and public are complacent and engaged in mass gatherings without following COVID protocols."

IMA acknowledged that tourist bonanza, pilgrimage travel, religious fervour all are needed but added that these activities can wait for a few more months.

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"Opening up these rituals and enabling people without vaccination to go scot-free in these mass gatherings are potential super spreaders for the COVID third wave," said the IMA adding that the consequences of treating a patient with COVID in hospital and its impacts on the economy will be "much better" than the economic loss the country suffer from avoiding such mass gathering.

Tourists spots full of people

The IMA's warning comes at a time when several tourist hotspots, especially the hill stations are teeming with tourist activity.

With COVID-19 cases coming down, many tourism-dependent states have opened up to visitors, but have failed to ensure that they follow social distancing and wear face masks in public.

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In Utatrakhand, where the previous government had faced criticism for allowing Kumbh during the second wave, the new government too is taking a similar approach.

IMA's Uttarakhand chapter has written to the new Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami requesting him to cancel the Kanwar Yatra this year.

The yatra had been cancelled last year too due to the first wave of COVID-19.

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The fortnight-long yatra that begins with the onset of the month of Shravan around July 25 and goes on till the first week of August sees crores of Kanwariyas from neighbouring states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh gathering in Haridwar to collect the holy waters of the Ganga.