Chennai: The Union government has sounded a note of caution once again, stating that second Covid-19 peak could be worse.
Speaking to the media, Dr V K Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog said, the pandemic is stabilising and moving towards a plateau. But all this could change, the gains made could be lost in the coming months as winters are approaching, he added.
Stating that winters were conducive for respiratory viruses, he added that the ‘second peak’ for Covid-19 that was being seen in certain countries signalled that India, too, was at risk.
“During the Spanish flu in 1918, too, the second phase of the infection in winters was far more destructive than the first phase,” he stated.
“In Europe and the US, new cases have been rising now, possibly due to other factors too. But the second peaks are much higher than the first,” Paul added.
He said that with festivals approaching, people ought to avoid gatherings, or else, there could be super-spreading events in the coming months. Young people, he said, were being overconfident, and hence, catching, and spreading, the infection more.