As we close of the year, there is a growing uncertainty over where this pandemic, especially in the wake of a new variant, is headed.

COVID cases in India are gradually increasing over the past 10 days, with more than 9,000 cases reported in the past 24 hours alone, one of the highest spikes we have seen since the start of December. 

There is a gradual upward trend in cases in Delhi and Maharashtra over the past 10 days which has raised fears of a possible third wave in India. For example, Delhi witnessed an 86 percent rise in daily COVID cases, with 923 new cases reported on 29 December. And Mumbai, another hotspot, reported 2,510 total cases, which is reportedly more than the total cases in Kerala. 400 infections were detected in Bengaluru, 540 in Kolkata and 294 in Chennai on 29 December.

And this surge largely stems from the highly mutated Omicron variant, which is more transmissive than earlier variants. But the total cases of this variant are still below 1,000. However, given that each case of Omicron is only detected after the samples are genome sequenced, which takes about a week, there is a possibility that this number is higher.

So for our last episode of 2021, we unpack biggest story of the year with the following questions- At what stage of the pandemic are we  in? Are we at the brink of a new wave? 

Joining me today to discuss the state of the pandemic in India is Vaishali Sood, The Quint and Quint FIT’s Health Editor. 

Guests: Vaishali Sood, Health Editor at The Quint and Quint FIT

Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram

Editor: Vaishali Sood

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

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