New Delhi: Summer may not bode well for India where COVID-19 is concerned. Prabhat Ja, a Canada-based epidemiologist of Indian origin, has cautioned India to guard against a possible surge in coronavirus cases in the months ahead as the summer forces people indoors.
Jha is an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto’s Unity Health-St Michael Hospital and executive director of the Centre for Global Health Research. He is also the lead investigator in the Million Death Study conducted in India in collaboration with the Registrar General of India.
Jha told Hindustan Times that the principal “element for transmission” is now considered to be “an indoor, closed, less ventilated space”.
Just as the winter peak drove people indoors in countries like Canada, India’s summer heat similar phenomenon may force people to stay inside. More caution needs to be exercised during the months of May and June as temperatures rise, he was quoted as saying, adding, “The upward tick now seen in many states is a result of people being more lax with masks and indoor gatherings. This may get worse with the summer heat.”
