Third wave likely to hit Karnataka by September-end, may not be severe if of same variant

By the end of September or the beginning of October, the third Covid-19 wave should arrive in Karnataka. Dr. C N Manjunath, director of the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, stated that four to six weeks following a spike in cases in Kerala, there is a spike in cases in Karnataka.

“If the same virus strain is seen, the third wave won’t be as severe as the second wave, but that may not be the case if we see a new variant. The government of India says we don’t need to test those coming in from other states who have received both doses of the vaccine, but this cannot apply to Kerala, which is contributing 65 per cent of the country’s caseload. They need to show RT-PCR negative report while entering, quarantine for a week here, and undergo a retest, before being declared safe,” said Dr Manjunath, who is nodal officer for Covid-19 testing in Karnataka and member of the Covid-19 Technical Advisory Committee.

He stated that the state must continue to test for Covid until December. The situation in Kerala is alarming, with one out of every five people testing positive for Covid. People entering the country for commercial, business, or educational purposes are subjected to stringent inspections at border checkpoints. The clusters previously began with nursing institutions in Mangaluru, where Kerala students came to study. He noted that Mangaluru and Udupi had between 25 and 30 nursing colleges.

“The challenge for the next wave is to ensure enough vaccines, and to vaccinate more people. We need to err on the side of maximum preparedness. The only worry is further mutations and immune escape variants as different strains evoke different antibodies,” he said.

Dr Manjunath said that Covid testing in Karnataka is robust, with 264 private and government labs combined for the purpose. Oxygen capacity is good, with all district hospitals and medical college hospitals having oxygen generators.

The government has stocked up on drugs, including steroids, Remdesivir, Amphotericin B, Immunoglobulins for children developing Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C) post-Covid, etc. District-level task forces have been constituted and pediatric facilities strengthened in terms of numbers and training, he added.