Third wave of COVID-19 could be as severe as second one: Report

New Delhi, June 02: The third wave of COVID-19 in India could be as severe as the second one, a report has said.

The SBI report while citing international experience, SBI Ecowrap estimated that the third wave will not be much different from the second one. However deaths can be minimised with better preparations, the report also said.

"Average duration of third wave for top countries is 98 days and that of second wave is 108 days, with third wave peak as a multiple of second at 1.8 and second wave as a multiple of first at 5.2 (for India it was at 4.2)," the report said.

The second wave witnessed 1.7 lakh, but with better preparedness the same during the third wave can be reduced to 40,000 if there is better preparedness. The report added that the death rate can be reduced by ramping up health infrastructure and rigorously expanding the vaccination drive.