The third wave is upon us. Just as crowds are slowly starting to come back to theatres and restaurants, it seems we are in for a new wave. This time, the wave is not going to be as bad as the April-May wave, when cases rose from 1 lakh cases per day to 4 lakh cases per day in no time.

Acclaimed researchers Mathukumalli Vidyasagar and Manindra Agrawal at the Indian Institute of Technology in Hyderabad and Kanpur have studied the covid data in the light of a mathematical model. Their prediction is that India is likely to see the third wave later in August. But the prediction also says that the daily caseload may not go beyond 150,000 cases even in the worst scenario.

If the above mathematical model-based prediction holds, the third wave will not see the crippling of the healthcare system. There will likely be no SOS posts on social media, and the different states in the country will not run out of Oxygen.

The increase in vaccination since the second wave and the natural immunity gained by crores of Indians may be the reason why the third wave won't be as brutal as the second wave.