Second wave will not be as severe as first one, and would be shorter and fizzle off sooner – say experts at Neuberg Diagnostics panel

by Suman Gupta

February, 2021: The experts at Neuberg’s Panel discussion on “Coronavirus – variants and vaccination” said there will be second wave of Coronavirus however it will not be as severe as first one and it will fizzle off sooner.

Dr V Ramasubramanian, Infectious Diseases Specialist, Apollo Hospital, said, “US, UK, Brazil and few other countries in Europe had second wave of Coronavirus. It was inevitable. There is no reason why India would be exception to this rule. Probably the severity of second would be much milder, because about 60% of our population is younger. The second wave would be far milder than what UK and US are witnessing. We are seeing a surge in several states, but it will not be as severe as first one and would be shorter and fizzle off sooner.”

Dr V. Ravi, Former professor of Neurovirology at NIMHAN and Nodal Officer for genomic confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 Government of Karnataka, said, “If you are not infected or not vaccinated, then be sure that the virus will catch you. Sooner or later, the virus will catch most of us.

When there is a huge surge, people behave responsibly. That’s one reason why infection comes down. Whenever, there is a surge, there is continuous, testing, tracking and tracing for containing the infection. Once the first wave subsided, the complacency has set in. Historically, it is true that any respiratory wave will have second wave. So, we will have second wave. But it will not be to the extent of first wave.”

Dr Saranya Narayan, Chief Microbiologist, Neuberg Diagnostics, said, “To certain extent, vaccination will help us in combating the second wave.”

About Neuberg Diagnostics: Best-in-class laboratories across India, USA, UAE & South Africa have united under the banner of Neuberg Diagnostics, to bring the latest technology and techniques within the reach of developing countries. Utilizing their combined strengths, the Neuberg Alliance brings capabilities to perform over 6000 varieties of Pathological investigations and promotes Prevention & Early Diagnosis, Focused Wellness Programs and Structured Disease Management programs for rare diseases using the most advanced technologies assisted by Data science and AI tools.

Today, Neuberg Diagnostics is among the top diagnostics companies of Indian origin and the fastest growing healthcare start-up in India. The founding members of the Neuberg consortium – Anand Diagnostic Laboratory (Bangalore), SupratechMicropath (Ahmedabad), Ehrlich Laboratory (Chennai), Global Labs (South Africa), and Minerva Diagnostics (Dubai) bring their combined heritage of over 200 years, and process over 20 million tests annually. With 10 approved labs for Covid testing, the group has processed more than 1.5 million RT PCR Tests in India and South Africa. Some of the best Pathologists, Biochemists, Geneticists, Microbiologists and several other Clinical Lab Professionals from around the world are working closely, sharing knowledge and using the latest generation of diagnostics techniques to take accurate and timely diagnosis to the next level.

 Apart from the coming together of leading players, green field laboratories have been established in Cochin, Trivandrum and Hyderabad. Currently the group has over 80 labs and over 1000 touch points across 4 countries. Our Indian Expansion plans include setting up a network of 500 collection centers across the country within the next 12 months. Our overseas expansion plans include establishing a presence in East Africa, West Africa, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, USA and Germany.

Neuberg also provides Hospital Laboratory Management Services, Preventive Health Checks, Corporate Wellness, Home Health Services and Drive through Phlebotomy Services.