Union Minister urges continued caution to prevent a third Covid wave in Bengaluru
BENGALURU:
Bengaluru and its citizens have coped better with the challenges of Covid, starting with the first wave in 2020, than many other places in the country, Minister of State (Electronics-IT and Skill Development-Entrepreneurship) Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Saturday. He was addressing a webinar on ‘Prevent Third Wave — #BengaluruFightsCorona — Episode 4, participated in by citizens and RWAs and organised by Namma Bengaluru Foundation.
Even as he lauded the Covid-related awareness of Bengalureans, the Minister urged continued caution on everybody’s part. “As we reach a very critical stage in our national fight against Covid-19 and our city’s efforts at prevailing over this very unprecedented global pandemic, it may be a good idea for us to look back at this journey of the last 18-19 months that we have travelled as a country, as a city, as people, and take stock of where we are, and be aware that the third wave is a real threat. One of the clear learnings from the past is that we don’t want that to happen again. It took a tremendous toll, both human and otherwise, to face and prevail over the second wave. So, this looking back is my effort at getting all of us to work together to make sure the third wave just does not happen in Bengaluru,” Chandrasekhar said.
HON MOS @Rajeev_GoI in conversation with Citizens of Bengaluru on how to prevent the third wave. #Maskup #Vaccinate take the second dose & maintain social distance this is the new normal @Namma_Bengaluru #Prevent3rdWave #Thirdwavebeda #BengaluruFightsCorona #COVID19 #Gold #WHO pic.twitter.com/XoQce270V8
— NBF (@Namma_Bengaluru) August 9, 2021
‘Think New Normal’
The Minister pointed out, “As you know, Bengaluru is showing an uptick in numbers in recent days. It’s not a good thing for us and it is something we need to be aware of if we don’t want to go back to April and May. We responded well, we ramped up all the requirements needed to come back in the first wave. We are today in a much better situation as a country — 500 million have been vaccinated, the vaccination process is ramping up, the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine has been approved for emergency use. So I think we will be on course to vaccinate a billion-plus Indians by the end of this calendar year. Our behaviour must move to a new normal. So, behaving differently is the new normal. It is our duty as individuals to maintain a certain new normal as to how we live.
Hon MOS @Rajeev_GoI in conversation with the Citizens of Bengaluru to be cautious & practice Covid appropriate behaviour to prevent the third wave. @drvishalrao & Dr Vivek Padegal also encouraged masking, vaccination, testing & tracking as key factors in prevention of Covid 19. pic.twitter.com/8ROLank5FE
— NBF (@Namma_Bengaluru) August 8, 2021
“Given all of that, it is extremely important to spread the word in our own networks, our RWAs, our communities that vaccination is important not only to themselves but to the family. The government and citizens had come together during the first wave and worked together to bring down the first wave by October 2020. The healthcare warriors across the country really went through a rough time. The second wave took all of us by surprise with the ferocity and veracity of the wave, and we must be careful to ensure we don’t have a third wave.”
He reiterated the need for masking up, getting vaccinated, taking the second dose, getting the community vaccinated and maintaining social distancing in public spaces for the next few months is very important. “This must be done till somebody from the ICMR or the PM gives the green flag that we have no other variants,” the Minister said.
‘Learnings from 2nd wave’
Dr Vishal Rao, Dean, HCG Hospital, Bengaluru termed the pandemic ‘World War C’. He said there was a lot to learn from the second wave and citizens should take utmost precaution to prevent a third wave. “Let’s not forget the second wave and put the healthcare system again under pressure, as we all know that the system will collapse if we cannot prevent the third wave,” he said. Dr Rao pointed out that there are 25,000-odd mutations of the virus and 8,572 new strains.
“The virus does not have hands and legs and it is we who are moving the virus. The virus jumped logarithmically after 5% (April first week) to 25% (April 4th week) and this shows that the virus can multiply fast and spread faster,” he said.
“The three important things for Namma Bengaluru to prevent the 3rd wave is ‘Mask, Vaccination and Ventilation’,” Dr Rao said. He referred to the ‘Singapore model’ which is like a triple circuit-breaker – ‘Safe reopening’, ‘Safe transitioning’ and ‘Safe state’.
‘Benefits of masking up’
Dr Vivek Padegal, Director of Pulmonology, Fortis Hospital, Bengaluru, talked about his experience in the first wave when the hospital went from having only 5 patients to about 200 patients in a span of three weeks. He suggested that Bengalureans act responsibly and not forget the loss of near and dear ones during the second wave. Dr Padegal referred to masking up an incredibly cheap and reproducible safety measure, and said there was an estimation that masks protect up to 70% in the transmission of the virus. “If you test positive, it is good to get isolated and take treatment immediately since asymptomatic patients with mild symptoms have come to the hospital and after a week have even been put on ventilators,” he said.
