Has COVID-19 fourth wave started? One in three Indians believe so 

With increasing COVID-19 cases in parts of the country, one in three Indians believe that the fourth wave has started. However, more than half of Indians believe that experts will be able to effectively handle this wave too, stated a survey by LocalCircles.  

This comes as India reported 2,927 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the number of active cases to 16,279. India reported 32 deaths, taking the total death toll to 5,23,654. The recovery rate was recorded at 98.75 per cent.  

On the back of this, the survey found that one in three Indians surveyed believe that the fourth COVID-19 wave has already started. When asked when they expect the fourth wave to begin considering the reopening of international flights and resurgence of COVID-19 in Delhi-NCR, 29 per cent said not in 2022, while four per cent said not for at least six months. However 34 per cent said that it already started in April, 13 per cent said May-June, seven per cent said July-August and four per cent said September-October. Nine per cent did not have an opinion. This indicates that one in three Indians believe that the fourth wave has already started.  

When asked that considering 5-7 variants are in circulation, how confident the respondents are in India’s ability to effectively handle things, 55 per cent said that they are ‘highly confident’, while 29 per cent said ‘somewhat confident’, four per cent said ‘very little confident’, and eight per cent ‘not confident at all’.  

This comes after the government stepped up its preparedness during the second wave that exposed India’s crumbling health infrastructure. With additional measures and strict guidelines, India was able to sail through the Omicron wave with fewer casualties.  

Now at the start of what appears to be the fourth wave, the respondents want the Health Ministry to make it mandatory for all districts to report daily COVID-19 cases. A majority – 83 per cent – said that they want the government to make it mandatory for districts to report daily cases, while 12 per cent did not.  

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to meet the chief ministers of all states and union territories today to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the country.  

Also read: PM Modi to meet CMs of states, UTs at 12pm to discuss COVID-19 situation

Also read: COVID-19: 86% of India's adult population fully vaccinated, says Mandaviya