How's the COVID situation like in your circles?

not in India from my friends in India, echo that sentiment

Our society in Pune is basically micro containment zone at this point with nearly 20+ households having infected people (4 buildings consisting 180 apartments). I'm currently in Rajkot (Gujarat) where we have independent house, situation isn't as bad here though.

Quite a few of my friends and myself got COVID for the first time in the last 2 weeks 😅

Reporting from Pune. Everyone we know who have taken a flight in the past 2 weeks are positive. A bunch of close friends and their families are +ve (not many though). My mum's a GP - says 90 - 95% of her current patients are those with cough / fever and if tested, 99% are positive -- or then they get positive in a couple of days. 🤷 Basically if you are in a group of people without masks, very high chance of being +ve. And if you expose yourself to a crowd without enough precaution (double masking, etc), then you have a very high chance. Anything under an N95 is useless and you'd rather just not wear a mask.

Too bad within a day across floors and blocks in apartments cases rising. Most of them are home isolation. Most of my friends have symptoms but when tested they are negative. [From bangalore]

Friends are testing positive left and right. Crazy days.

Almost the same in Mumbai as well. I went to bank yesterday and I saw atleast 2-3 people with symptoms working like its just a normal cold. Scary scenes these days.

A few of my contacts (2-3) have tested +ve in this week. All are under home isolation with mild symptoms (fever for a day or two, mostly body pain and tiredness), nothing alarming (but again safety first 🙂 ). A couple of commonly used cold/fever medicines are prescribed, if necessary. The situation in Mumbai is at least seeing a downward trend from the past 4-5 days. Hopefully, it all comes down over the next few weeks 🤞

Mumbai numbers are definitely down played by the government. The actual numbers are anywhere between 1.5-2X the numbers reported. 😅

Unfortunately that's a general trend across India, mostly governments wont report the actual numbers 🥲

I think everyone reports actual numbers. Especially in Maharashtra. However, this time around, people aren't getting tested. The numbers are definitely 10x if not 20x due to the people not getting tested. I can even get a home RAT test, come out positive and there is no place to report it. The last time around, we had relatives in Delhi who would get tested but they wouldn't get a document saying they were positive. The test centers would inform you verbally on the phone as the grapevine was that the Delhi govt. had asked test centers not to do more than 1000 - 2000 tests per day (or something like that). We came back from a road trip a couple of weeks ago and got a PCR test done as a precaution - and even though it was negative, I got an SMS from the Mah Govt with a link to download my negative PCR report. So I think definitely Mumbai & Mah are reporting actual numbers -- it is just that people are extremely hesitant to get tested. Especially if the symptoms are mild.

Perfectly said @loud-glass-33663! This is exactly what is happening.

With home collection of sample costing 800 or higher, people are bound to be hesitant until shit hits the fan (or there's an obligation to test), only difference is that unlike second wave, majority of infected ones are vaccinated which also plays a role in having milder symptoms in comparison.

I don't think it is the cost of the test. Though that is also probably a big reason. I know many well to do people refusing to test because there is still some stigma associated with it. You need to inform your society, they will broadcast it and people will think you are an idiot for getting infected, etc. Plus in places like Mumbai, they have started sealing buildings over a certain number of households which adds to the hesitancy. It is a Schrodinger's disease. You get positive only if you test. Otherwise it is a common cold / flu / etc.

I dont understand why cases only rise during Jan to April month? Any specific reason?? Every year new wave is coming

Every year new wave is coming

I don't believe that COVID will be eradicated completely. The virus tends to mutate every now and then, and a primary reason for this is the lack of COVID appropriate behavior. The moment things go down, the population (generally) becomes lazy, and flouts all COVID appropriate behavior. I think COVID will turn into a seasonal infection, much like common cold/fever, and we might end up taking a booster dose every year.

I come from a middle tier town in Maharashtra. I haven't heard of many people either catching symptoms or testing positive. I think, at this moment, the cities are much infected and at-risks than smaller towns. But that's how it has been all these waves. When the wave begins to die in cities, the towns see an upward trend.

I think COVID will turn into a seasonal infection, much like common cold/fever, and we might end up taking a booster dose every year

This will make most of the companies/startups go remote 🙂

I don't think so. I still have friends who are going to office even now, when the situation is having an upward trend. Hybrid will become a "new corporate normal" in a few years. Maybe for early stage startups, or startups, remote working may be opted, but at least I don't see a large scale adoption of the same.