‘Revenge travel’ may trigger COVID-19 Third wave in India, just like the previous time: ICMR warns

With India reporting less than 20,000 COVID-19 cases for 2nd consecutive day and travel bans being lifted, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has issued a warning against ‘revenge travel’.

As per the secretary of Indian Health Ministry, the recovery rate of COVID-19 has risen to almost 98%. This drop in the number of new cases and increase in the recovery rate has allowed state governments to ease down travel restrictions.

However, the ICMR and Imperial College London recently carried out a study titled ‘Responsible travel’. The study sheds light on how ‘revenge travel’ could trigger a third wave of Covid-19 and further intensify the impact of coronavirus, and, worsen even further during the months of February and March in 2022.

Experts have been suggesting that a third wave is inevitable and an increase in social or religious gatherings would only aggravate the scenario. The study further says that the third-wave peak can increase by up to 47% during the holiday season and can occur two weeks earlier compared to a scenario of easing restrictions in the absence of holiday travel.

In states like Himachal Pradesh, the population scale immunity has not yet reached the level of other states. In such situation, curbing the spread of the virus that not long ago devastated the nation’s health infrastructure would certainly be a difficult task.

In order to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 spread, an SOP must be put in place which should be adhered by all the tourists, the study suggests. Even though people are being suggested to travel responsibly, staying indoors is still a better bet as the fewer people you’re around, the lower would be your chance of getting infected.

‘Revenge travel’ can be translated as the longing to travel after being kept isolated or confined for a long time, even if it comes at a cost.