The National Covid-19 Supermodel Committee, a panel comprising experts, has projected (as against predicting) that India will witness the third wave in early next year. This is a likely scenario. But the arrival of the third wave anytime is certain, the panel said.

The third wave will arrive when the Delta variant takes a backseat and the Omicron variant becomes the dominant cause of infections.

There is some good news here. The panel added that, even in the worst scenario, the daily caseload will not exceed 1.80 lakh cases during the third wave. Omicron is increasingly in news in India, but it is not a fatal variant. During the second wave, the daily caseload exceeded the 4-lakh mark.

Reputed biologist Rakesh K Mishra has said that India has an edge. "High seropositivity, increasing vaccine coverage, younger population, a generally better experienced immune system against infectious diseases, weather advantage for regular lifestyle (no need for central heating, etc) are our advantages," he tweeted today.