'India may be entering stage of endemicity of COVID': WHO Chief Scientist

The latest seven-day average of daily cases is now under 32,000, which is a decrease of 12% compared to the week before.

The endemic stage is a condition when the population learns to live with a virus.

In an interview to journalist Karan Thapar for news website The Wire, Swaminathan said: “It’s very feasible we may continue like this with a few local ups and downs.”

It is unlikely that the situation will be severe and "certainly not like the devastating second wave of April-May," she said.

"We may be entering some kind of stage of endemicity where there is low level transmission or moderate level transmission going on but we are not seeing the kinds of exponential growth and peaks that we saw a few months ago,"  Swaminathan told The Wire.

The scientist also said she expects that WHO would clear Bharat Biotech's Covaxin as one of its authorised vaccines by mid-September.

In a 43-minute interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, Swaminathan said, “No one has a crystal ball and it’s impossible to predict a third wave."

Swaminathan said while it is possible that children could get infected in a third wave in large numbers it is very unlikely that they will fall seriously ill.

She mentioned there is no need to panic on this score although it’s advisable to be prepared for more infections in children.

India recorded 25,467 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours amid fears that a third wave of the pandemic may hit the nation soon.

Officials said during the last 24 hours, 354 people died due to the highly infectious virus.

The death toll due to the disease now stands at 435110.