Complacency could lead to resurgence of COVID-19 cases: DAK

Srinagar/ Oct, 20: With people in Kashmir valley getting complacent due to decline in novel coronavirus numbers, Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Tuesday said complacency could lead to resurgence of COVID-19 cases.
“Complacency could trigger a second wave of Covid-19 infection,” cautioned DAK President and influenza expert Dr Nisar ul Hassan in a statement issued here on Tuesday.
“People no longer regard pandemic as a risk and have thrown caution to the wind,” he said. He said many people don’t wear masks and they don’t care for social distancing.
“Huge crowds are seen in markets. Hordes of pedestrians are seen without marks. And there are large gatherings at wedding ceremonies and public functions. We are not out of the woods yet. Covid-19 is far from over and we must not lower our guard. We are sitting on a powder keg that could explode any time,” he said.
“We may feel the cases are falling and we have begun to flatten the curve, but the reduction in the positive cases can simply be due to unreliable rapid antigen testing which can miss more than 50 percent of positive cases,” he added.
Dr Nisar said “we do still see cases popping up. Every day we see a large number of severely ill Covid-19 patients being brought into the hospitals. Accelerated transmission of Covid-19 within the next few weeks would not be surprising considering the lackadaisical approach by most people towards the pandemic.”
“Complacency has the potential to experience a second surge,” Dr Nisar said.
“There are countries like the US, Spain, New Zealand, Vietnam and South Korea that have had this situation. After they had their first surge, the numbers started coming down. What happened is that they ended up with a second surge.”
“If behavior returns to normal, there could be an explosion of cases that could reignite another outbreak in the valley,” he said. “We have to look at Covid-19 not as a sprint, but as a marathon.”
“People must continue to adhere to health guidelines to avoid catastrophic slipup. Health authorities need to be educating and pressing people to stay vigilant about Covid so that they can adjust to the new normal,” said Dr Nisar