Second wave of Covid is more infectious and severe than the first

Bengaluru: The symptoms during the first wave of Covid-19 were fever, loss of smell and taste. Doctors are reporting that in the second wave, the symptoms of Covid-19 patients are different. It includes symptoms of diarrhoea, body pain, joint pain, tiredness along with other symptoms seen during the first wave. Covid 2.0 is more infectious and severe than Covid 1.0.

For instance, there were 386 cases and 12 deaths in the first 84 days when the first wave began on March 8, 2020. The second wave too began almost during the same time but the difference is alarming. The Covid cases reported in the last 45 days were 1,06,674 with 480 deaths. Cases in the first wave could have been less in the initial stages because of lockdown and other stringent measures, but cases in the second wave are exploding and are severe too.

“During the first wave, a majority of the patients belonged to the elderly age group. During the second wave, pediatric and younger age groups are testing positive. This could be due to the vaccine rollout for the elderly which has taken place. On the other hand, we are seeing an alarming increase in family clusters testing positive in the second wave. Earlier, we probably had more asymptomatic cases which went unreported”, said Dr SN Aravinda (Consultant, Internal Medicine at Aster RV Hospital).

Experts say that without any doubt the caseload in the second wave is stronger and more fatal. “In the first wave, mostly the median age of the patient was 55+. This time, we are witnessing a lot of young patients in the age group of 35-45 years. This time, kids and teenagers are also getting infected. The whole outlook is casual with people not being bothered about infection risk this time as they were last time”, said Dr Sachin Kumar (Senior Consultant, Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine, Sakra World Hospital).

Dr Pradeep Rangappa (Senior Consultant, Critical Care, Columbia Asia Referral Hospital, Yeshwanthpur) said, “Infectivity rate currently appears to be high. However, the differences in the second wave are that there are vaccines, there is no shortage of PPE kits, there’s a better understanding of treatment modalities, established protocols are in place and training of healthcare workers that had happened during the first wave is helping.”

Highest active cases in Bengaluru

The city is witnessing its highest number of cases till now with 71,827. When we observe the rise and fall of active cases, Bengaluru had nearly 4k active cases by the end of June 2020. By July 6th, the active cases went up to 8,860. By August 1, it had gone up to 37k and by September 1, it increased to 40k. The city had active cases in the country with 65,000 cases by mid-October. However, the active cases decreased to 30,958 by November 1. It further reduced to 16,716 on November 5. The cases again rose to 19,636 by the first week of December 2020 and then decreased to 3,763 on February 9, 2021. Since then, it has been increasing and presently, the number of active cases in Bengaluru is constantly high.

In the meantime, the active cases in Karnataka have risen to 1 lakh plus. Karnataka’s active cases touched the peak on October 9, 2020, with 1,20,929 cases. After this, there was a decrease in cases till it started going up again in March 2021.