Continued gross violations of Covid-19-appropriate behaviourcan nullify the gains made against the pandemic so far, the Health Ministrywarned on Tuesday.
In a press briefing, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, HealthMinistry said the third wave of Covid-19 may be caused due to this behaviour.Quoting media reports of tourists who were flouting Covid norms, Lav said: “Wefeel like we have come out of jail after two years. There’s a huge crowd but wearen’t scared of Covid-19. We have come here before the third wave."
“We talk about the ‘third wave’ as a weather update. Whatwe fail to understand is that adherence to COVID appropriate behavior or thelack of it is what will prevent or cause any future waves," he said. Dr VKPaul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog said the third wave would not come “on its own".“We the people will invite it," he said,
India witnessed a devastating second wave of the pandemicin April and May, which saw record cases and fatalities, amid a shortage ofhealthcare facilities and medical oxygen.
Most states at the time enforced strict lockdowns, buthave now begun to open up. Thousands of tourists are visiting hill stations, asthe daily coronavirus cases dip in the country. The Himachal Pradesh governmenthad announced last month about the easing of Covid-19 restrictions followingwhich, tourists started to head to higher altitudes, especially to Shimla,Kullu-Manali, and Dharamshala.
Prime Minister Narindra Modi also called out themask-less tourists flocking to hill stations in huge numbers and those crowdingthe markets saying the third wave of coronavirus would hit the country “when weinvite it”. PM Modi, who was meeting chief ministers of the Northeast statesamid concerns of rising Covid-19 cases, said: “It is true that tourism andbusiness have been greatly affected due to coronavirus. But today, I will sayvery emphatically, that it is not okay to have huge crowds in hill stations,markets without wearing masks.”