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Europe is reporting a far higher number of cases than during its previous peaks
A brief note on the issue
In the months of March, April and May, Europe as a whole reported between 35,000 and 38,000 Covid-19 cases every day, at its peak, but these numbers declined after that USA and India emerged as the epicentres of the epidemic
In the recent month, however, there has been a dramatic rise in cases in Europe. The second wave of infections in Europe is far worse than the first. On Thursday, Europe reported more than 2.5 lakh cases in a single day
Causes for rise in the number of cases/second wave of Covid-19
Experts point out two possible broad factors, they are;
- A general lowering of guard after the numbers began to dip in the summer, and the drop in temperature that would be pushing most activities indoors.
- The cold, dry weather could also be helping the virus survive longer and remain potent, though the evidence on that is not conclusive.
Change in weather and closed spaces:
- According to experts, As the temperatures go down, more and more people remain indoors. Transmission of the virus becomes much more effective in these settings.
- So, while the virus was always present, the effectiveness of transmission is likely to have increased when people interact mostly in closed spaces.
- There are studies that have shown that the probability of infection increases during interactions in closed spaces
New strain-20A.EU1:
- According to a recently published study, travel within Europe, particularly Spain, could be spreading the virus.
- It reports that a new variant of the virus, first detected amongst people in Spain in July, has now spread through many countries in the region.
- Named 20A.EU1, this variant is particularly prevalent in the UK, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France and Norway.
- It accounts for the majority of the recent infections in Europe and was dispersed across Europe by travellers to and from Spain
2nd wave of Covid-19 in India
- In India, the number of daily new cases touched a peak in the middle of September and has been declining ever since.
- On September 16, India detected 97,894 new cases, the highest for any country in a day. Currently, between 45,000 and 50,000 new cases are being detected. But states like Delhi and Kerala are already witnessing a fresh wave of infections
- Whether India will also go through a Europe-like resurgence during the winters cannot be predicted
