Coronavirus: Cambridge tracker predicts possible COVID-19 wave in India; What we know so far

The second wave of coronavirus wreaked havoc in the recent past and left people in a state of chaos and panic. Not only did it take a massive toll on people's lives, but also posed great challenges to the country's medical infrastructure.

Now, a coronavirus tracker, developed by UK's University of Cambridge, has foretold that India may soon experience an intense but short-lived COVID wave. The same tracker had previously predicted the second wave in May and had suggested that India would see a gradual surge in COVID-19 infection.

Read also: "I got COVID infected during the second wave, can I still catch a severe infection?"

"It is likely that India will see a period of explosive growth in daily cases and that the intense growth phase will be relatively short," Paul Kattuman, Professor at the Judge Business School at the Cambridge University. In an email, he further explained, "New infections will begin to rise in a few days, possibly within this week."

As per the tracker, there was a sharp rise in infection rates in six states as a “significant concern" in a Dec. 24 note, which later expanded to 11 Indian states by December 26.

Omicron variant has been rampant and is spreading like wildfire in and around the world.

While the number of COVID cases in India has shot up to 9,195 - the highest new daily cases in three weeks - the country's current Omicron tally has increased to 961.

As per the Union Health Ministry, the Omicron infection has so far spread into 21 states and Union Territories. While there have been no severe cases, the rapid surge in the number of COVID cases is highly alarming.

In a recent update, the World Health Organization warned against the new COVID-19 variant. The global health agency said that the Omicron variant poses 'very high' risk and is the primary reason behind the spike in COVID case numbers across countries.

While the new coronavirus strain is reported as 'mild', the heavily mutated variant has already overtaken the previous dominant Delta variant, says WHO.

While India has taken some major leap in the bid to vaccinate the majority of the population and to provide booster shots to the most vulnerable in the country, we as individuals must take proper COVID measures to safeguard ourselves and our loved ones.

Do not visit crowded areas and not wearing your mask can put you and people around you at major risk. Maintain social distancing and do not neglect basic hand hygiene.

Apart from that, avoid traveling or gathering in large groups. COVID-19 is extremely unpredictable and the high infectious rate of the Omicron variant only makes things worse.