Difficult to say when COVID-19 3rd wave will come, we're better prepared: Dr Devi Shetty

Bengaluru: Noted cardiologist Dr Devi Shetty, who also happens to be Chairman of COVID expert committee, Karnataka on Thursday said that while it’s difficult to predict when the third wave of Covid-19 will come, the state government, hospitals and doctors are much prepared to tackle the crisis as compared to the past.

“It is difficult to say when the third wave of COVID will come, how severe it’ll be. I can say that our government is much better prepared now. People are much better prepared, hospitals and doctors much prepared to compare to what in the past. Also, a good number of health care professionals are immunized so they are not worried about their lives when they look at COVID patients,” said Dr Shetty. He said that Karnataka has specially created a cadre for managing children if they ever get infected while adding that “on the whole even it happens we are in a much better position to tackle it,” Dr Shetty told ANI.

Futher Dr Shetty said that people will have to respect covid appropriate behavior for their own protection. His remarks were in reference to the irresponsible manner in which people have been roaming without maintaining social distancing, wearing masks.

“If people behave in an irresponsible manner no government, no anti-biotic no vaccine can protect them. So people have to take the responsibility,” he said.

He further said that the greatest challenge is addressing the vaccine hesitancy among people.

As many as 41,806 fresh COVID-19 cases were reported in India in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said on Thursday, a slight rise from the previous day’s count of 38,792 cases.