Avoid complacency

Threat of devastating third wave is real

The number of confirmed Covid-19 infections in India has been steadily declining since a peak in early May. Many cities, including Delhi, are gradually reopening, driven in part by a fear of lost income and livelihoods. While there are sections of the country where the test positivity rate is still quite high, the average for India overall has been below 5 for most of June. It might thus be tempting to assume the second wave of the pandemic, devastating though it was, is over.

Yet India cannot afford to repeat the mistakes it made last year after reopening. In spite of