Indian states that did not face an intense second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic are now with the increasing trend of COVID-19 cases, showing early signs of the third wave,  Dr Samiran Panda, Head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),  has said, He said it is important to not talk of India as a whole and to instead take a state-specific view when talking about COVID-19 because all the states are not homogenous.

"Several states began imposing COVID-19 restrictions and increased vaccinations, learning from Delhi and Maharashtra. Due to this, the second wave in several states was not as intense, leaving scope for a third wave. Therefore, the increasing number of COVID-19 infections in some states presently is indicating a third wave," he said.

"Every state should look into their number of COVID-19 infections and its intensity in both the first and the second wave of the pandemic to decide about their strategy/pandemic preparedness for the possibility of the third wave," the doctor added.

The massive surge of Covid-19 infections in Kerala was by far the most dominant pandemic trend last week, but several other states also saw a rise in cases during the period, with Mizoram in the northeast and Andhra Pradesh in the south reporting moderate spurts.