Even though the second wave of coronavirus has waned in India, fresh reports from Kerala suggest that the country could be on the brink of a third wave. On Tuesday, Kerala recorded a drastic rise in fresh coronavirus cases. According to the Kerala health department, the state reported 22,129 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours. 156 people also lost their lives due to Covid-related complications. 

Kerala model failing miserably

During the first wave of the Covid pandemic, Kerala has successfully flattened the coronavirus chaos curve. However, recent development in the state is shocking, as Kerala has now emerged as the epicenter of the Covid pandemic in India. 

Covid third wave
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The daily test positivity rate (TPR) in Kerala is also above 12, way higher than the national average. Even though the rise in positive cases could be attributed to mass testing, the high TPR rate in Kerala strongly hints at the fact that the pandemic is still at large in the southern state. 

Recently, the Supreme Court of India had lashed out at the Kerala government for lifting all the restrictions as a part of Bakrid. It should be noted that the government had lifted restrictions even in regions where the TPR is above 15. 

When ICMR predicted the timeline of Covid third wave

Earlier, top medical experts in the country including AIIMS director Dr. Randeep Guleria had predicted that the third wave of the coronavirus in India is inevitable. Recently, Dr. Samiran Panda, the head of epidemiology and infectious diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research had predicted that the third wave of the country could begin by the end of August. 

Panda revealed that the third wave of the pandemic will happen for sure, but he made it clear that this potential new wave of Covid may not be as deadly as the second wave.