Thesecond wave of the covid19 pandemic has hit India badly as over 2 lakh newscases were reported on Thursday and it has overwhelmed healthcareinfrastructure in several states, which needs an urgent attention.
Inconversation with leading doctors, dealing with the health crisis in thecountry, it was known that situation in Indian has worsened and it requires anextraordinary response to contain the virus.
"Onerobust way to respond to this new variant of virus is to quickly go for arestrictive lockdown," said Naresh Trehan, top cardiovascular andcardiothoracic surgeon.
Hesaid the decision taken by Maharashtra government was the need of hour, andsimilarly other states too should make a fast move... because time is precious,he said.
Regardingthe magnitude of the situation which is getting worse and worse, Trehan,chairman of the Medanta hospital chain in India, said that the different newstrains of virus have spread at a double speed and caught the medicalfraternity by surprise.
"Eventhe second wave of the Spanish flu was very devastating. Similarly in thissecond wave of Covid-19, I see that the numbers of cases are swelling veryfast, each day. The difference between the figures of the first and second waveis enormous, almost double." said Tehan.
Onhow to contain the virus, the leading cardiologist said the vaccination drivehas to be augmented.
"Besides,we have to increase the base of testing to ascertain the spread of this virus.And lastly everyone has to be cautious. Wearing a mask is a must... It's simpleto say but hard to implement on the ground, particularly in smaller towns andplaces ," Trehan, an alma mater of the famous King George Medical College(KGMC) of Lucknow, said.
Thenew variants of coronavirus, which is spreading faster than ever before isaffecting young people, even children this time.
Whenasked how dreaded these new variants are, leading Indian physician and formerPresident of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), K.K. Agarwal said:"The UK strain, seen largely in Punjab is affecting the young, speciallythose under the age of 45. Then there are strains from South Africa, Brazil andones traced in Maharashtra. Out of these, the Indian mutation (of the virus)seems a bit dangerous. Like a wave, the virus is now spreading from the west (Maharashtra)to north (Delhi)... But seeing the cases, I can say that the UK virus doesn'tlook dangerous."
Onthe question of enforcing a complete lockdown in the country to curb thefurther spread of the second wave of the pandemic, Agarwal suggested that areawise containment could be effective.
"Completelockdown would not be practical. Actually enough time has been lost. We have tonow focus on how to back the healthcare services and provide treatment topatients as numbers of admission are rising at a very fast pace. I wouldsuggest that people should go for treatment as soon as symptoms appear,"said Agarwal, who was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilianhonour for his contribution to the field of medicine.
Theleading medical practitioners have a word of caution for India's younggeneration.
"Forthe past fortnight, I am seeing a trend that more and more youngsters arecoming to our centres," said Sandeep Sharma a top radiologist and a formerkey functionary of the Delhi Medical Association.
"OnWednesday, I had seen 15 Covid positive patients for their chest CT scan. Outof 15, only one patient was around 60 years old. Rest was within the age groupof 40 to 22," he said.
"Theyoung population seems to have less fear about the virus. I would suggest theyshould be more careful as new strains of virus are affecting them."
Theleading doctors were of the opinion that a callous approach by people,especially youngsters, and huge gatherings in recent festivals, and socialevents have led to the second wave.
"Everyonehas to be careful. I will reiterate, that wearing a mask, and maintainingsocial distancing is the simplest form of prevention. Let's follow thisrule," Trehan quipped.