Shillong, June 20: As India waits tepidly for the third wave of corona virus even as it is in the midst of the battle with the second wave presently, health experts believe that the virus in the third wave will likely target those below 18 years of age and the children.

Their opinion is based on the way the virus has behaved and mutated so far. According to AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria, the third Covid wave in India is ‘inevitable’ and it could hit the country as early as in the next six to eight weeks, which is far earlier than the anticipated dateline of around December 2021.

This is bound to put pressure on the healthcare system in the country, more so for smaller states like Meghalaya. If the third wave does hit within 4-6 weeks and targets children, it will be a herculean task to attend to so many paediatric cases.

Meghalaya is already seeing many Covid-19 cases for the under 18 years age group. In the first wave, which lasted from beginning of Covid-19 to March 2021, the State detected 1095 cases, whereas in the second wave, which started from April 2021 and till June 17, 2021 the state has detected 6140 cases. That totals up of 8045 cases till date.

Principal Secretary in-charge of Health & Family Welfare Department, Sampath Kumar said the cases among the below 18 years age group was 16 per cent of the overall cases during the first wave while it is 18 per cent in the second wave.

Also, a total of 12 deaths have taken place in the abovementioned age group, 4 in the first wave and 8 in the second wave.

There were recent reports of over 5000 cases and 17 deaths among the age group of under 18 years. Acknowledging the reports, he said the cases are right since the beginning of the Covid pandemic and not specific to second wave.

He clarified that these cases include everyone below 18 years of age and it is slightly misleading that these numbers represent children. He said these numbers represent those that are 17 years old, 16 years old, 14 years old and some under 10 years old.
He said there was no need to panic and assured that the state has adequate preparations in place as and when the third arrives.

Meghalaya has so far detected 45,286 cases and reported 780 deaths, with 4587 active cases currently.