By Bishnu Pandey, Kathmandu, Aug. 17: Following the government's directive to the hospitals listed to provide services to COVID-19 patients during the first and second wave to resume their health services for the treatment of infected people, the public health experts have warned that the third wave of the pandemic might hit the nation in near future.

The health experts said that the increasing cases of COVID-19 hospitalisations and infection rate and the government's directive to the COVID-19 dedicated hospitals to brace themselves for yet another upsurge in coronavirus cases had signaled the arrival of the third wave.

Virologist and former director at Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) Dr. Basudev Pandey said that the prevalence of new strains of virus at the community level could be one of the major reasons behind the increase in infection rate.

"It is vital to ascertain whether new mutants are present in the community or not by collecting testing positive swab samples on a weekly basis," said Dr. Pandey.

"Even though the spread of the virus could be controlled to some extent by intensifying the vaccination campaigns, the vaccination centres have instead become the source of infection for many people due to unnecessary crowding without following the public health standards," he added.

Dr. Pandey added that the infection rate was not declining due to the negligence of vaccinated people in abiding by the health and safety protocols suggested by the government and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Similarly, public health expert Prof. Dr. Kedar Baral said that the increasing infection rate had hinted existence of newer variants of coronavirus in the community. "Thus all data should be analysed carefully and if an infected person shows different symptoms, then his/her swab sample should be put to whole-genome sequencing," said Dr. Baral.

Stating that the government was moving at a snail's pace in identifying the mutated strains of SARS-CoV-2, Dr. Baral said that identification of the nature and type of virus spreading in our community would help in framing appropriate strategies to curb the spread.

Dr. Baral also added that the government must pay attention to ensure the effectiveness of the vaccination drives.

Moreover, Dr. Baburam Marasini said that the government's negligence in conducting research on new mutated variants had increased the risk of the spread of COVID-19.

"As the delta variant of coronavirus existing in our community is highly contagious, its mutation can take place rapidly. Thus, it is important to find out if mutated strains of the virus exist around us or not," said Dr. Marasini.

Along with strictly implementing the public health standards, the government must conduct research on the formation of new variants via mutation of the virus to control the spread of COVID-19 and prevent the possible third wave.