Third COVID wave could peak by Sept, warns SBI Research report

India, which is still reporting over 39,000 cases with over 700 deaths daily due to the COVID pandemic, is likely to face the third wave in August, said a report by SBI Research.

The second wave, which is recorded from mid-February this year, has already taken thousands of lives and exposed a cringing healthcare infrastructure. It is said to have peaked in mid-May.

The report, published by SBI Research and quoted by media reports, has been named ‘Covid-19: The race to finishing line’, has further said that the third wave will peak in September.

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“Going by the current data, India can experience cases around 10,000 somewhere around the second week of July. However, the cases can start rising by the second fortnight of August,” the SBI report has said.

It said based on historical trends, the cases can start rising by the second fortnight of August, with cases peaking at least a month later. It also noted that the country has started giving more than 40 lakh vaccination doses per day.

Overall, India has fully vaccinated 4.6 per cent of its population, apart from 20.8 per cent having received one dose. This is still lower than other countries including the US, the UK, Israel, Spain, France among others.

Also read: Third wave of coronavirus ‘inevitable’, says top government scientist

India on Monday (July 5) reported 39,796 fresh COVID cases along with 42,352 recoveries and 723 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to official data. The total COVID cases in India now stand at a staggering 3.06 crore while the death toll has risen over 4 lakh.

India now has over 4.82 lakh active COVID-19 cases, while the country has managed to administer 35 crore vaccine doses so far.

A report prepared by SBI’s research team and authored by Soumya Kanti Ghosh, the bank’s chief economic adviser, said the entire duration of second COVID wave might continue up to 100 days counted from February 15. That meant the cases would continue to hit new highs until May.