Fourth wave of COVID-19 has begun: Health experts

By Mahima Devkota, Kathmandu, July 22: Health experts have predicted that the fourth wave of COVID-19 has begun in the country as the daily cases have increased exponentially in a period of two weeks.

The data from the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) showed that daily COVID-19 cases were 113 on July 6, and within two weeks on July 22, the number of daily cases rose to 456. The positivity rate in the last three days remained over 10 per cent. Similarly, the number of daily new cases of COVID-19 on June 23 was 49 and after a month on July 22, it rose to 435. This shows that the number of new cases on a daily basis has gone up by more than eight times.

Dr Prabhat Adhikari, a public health expert, said that COVID-19 cases are rising exponentially within a short span and are showing signs that they will continue to rise in near future.  

He said, "While observing the current scenario, the COVID-19 graph has gone up at an alarming rate. This is a clear indication that the fourth wave has already knocked the country."

Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, chief of the Clinical Research Unit at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Teku, said that the new cases of COVID-19 are rising in the country on a daily basis. While looking at the data for the last 14 days, it can be observed that cases are rising from 100 a day to 500.

He that the positivity rate is already more than 10 per cent and the daily COVID-19 cases are about 500 in number. Just a month ago, daily cases were under 20 and within a fortnight, on July 6, the number of daily cases crossed 100.

Dr Niraj Bam, an associate professor at the Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, said that the fourth wave has begun in the country and everyone is at risk of infection, therefore, adhering to the health safety standard is a must.

Dr Sameer Kumar Adhikari, the joint spokesperson of the MoHP, said, "The number of cases will continue to rise in the next few days as the peak is yet to come."

Dr Roshan Pokhrel, secretary of the MoHP, said that the MoHP, as well as CCMC, has made a ten-point bulletin in order to contain the spread of the virus. All the hospitals and health institutions are asked to be on standby and denizens are requested to wear masks, maintain physical distance, avoid mass gatherings, and wash hands regularly.