It is premature to believe that Delhi, Maharashtra and other states have crossed the peak of Covid-19 third wave, Dr Samiran Panda, additional director general at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), told News18.com.According to Panda, who is a trained tropical medicine specialist and a scientist, Covid-19 infections are progressing and declining at a different pace in some states and districts, therefore, it will be “incorrect” to say there will be a collective peak for the country. “Different states in India are at different stages of Covid-19 infections, epidemiologically. The local data show different trends and we must understand that India — as the overall country – will not reach its peak, rather the different states will reach the peak at different times,” he said. The head of the epidemiology and infectious diseases division at ICMR, Dr Panda says India should to follow the ‘one-shoe-doesn’t-fit-all’ approach. “Just replace ‘shoe’ with ‘data’. Every state data is throwing a different trend. There are several pictures, which are emerging in India, state-wise, which show pandemics are in different states,” he pointed out. He further said it will be incorrect to say India is reaching or has crossed the peak as “the country as a whole is not throwing a common trend”. In states such as Delhi and Mumbai, the graph is coming down. On January 14, more than 89,000 Covid-19 cases were recorded in Maharashtra, which is the highest so far after the Omicron variant arrived in India. However, the cases are now plateauing with 39,000 daily infections reported on January 18. Similarly, Delhi touched over 53,000 Covid-19 cases on January 14 but it saw a dip after it recorded 23,000 infections on January 18. Dr Panda’s says his analysis show that the trend could be a “temporary fluctuation” and a sustained trend for at least three weeks will throw exact conclusions. “We still don’t know if this is a temporary fluctuation or a permanent trend and we can’t conclude if the wave has surpassed,” Dr Panda stressed. “Next week, we may see things changing again. We must wait for the data for successive three weeks. Starting from today, we can catch a trend after two weeks now to ensure that it’s a sustained trend.” The difference in states’ local trends is due to their density of population, travelling patterns between districts and states, mixing of population with one another among other reasons, he explained. Hospitalisations Mostly Due to Underlying Health Conditions So far, the data shows only those Covid cases with co-morbidities have been hospitalised, Dr Panda said. “Hospitalisations are not taking place due to Omicron-caused Covid-19 disease,” he said. The patients are on oxygen or ventilators due to their underlying comorbidities,” he added.Hence, associated comorbidities are bringing more people to hospitals and not the new Omicron variant. Test Performance Should Be MaintainedAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), 140 tests should be done per million people for a comprehensive surveillance and testing of population. Panda insisted that the states should follow the benchmark test performance. However, epidemiologically, the requirements during this phase of pandemic (caused by Omicron variant) are different. All states must follow the new testing guidelines and should test accordingly. “It’s necessary for the states to characterise the epidemic well and conduct tests on symptomatic individuals. Also, home testing kits should be used.” Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here.