Winter warning - THE WEEK

Though the number of deaths reported is much lower than in March, more people are being hospitalised, said the global health agency.

The minister, an ENT specialist, said that respiratory viruses are known to thrive in cold weather and low humidity.

“It would not be wrong to assume that winter may see increased rates of transmission in the Indian context, too,” he said.

Doctors said that there should be more concern in India because of the upcoming festival and wedding season.

For instance, said Mahajan, cases of community-acquired pneumonia (acquired outside a hospital), caused by certain species of bacteria and viruses, typically rise in the winter.

However, with influenza viruses, said Mahajan, doctors are at least up against a not-so-deadly foe.

Dr Jayaprakash Muliyil, former principal and head of department, community health, Christian Medical College Vellore, said that Indian winters were unlike those in the developed world.

However, the possibility of a similar wave cannot be ruled out in India, said Dr T.

Though indoor crowding can increase the spread, by the time winter sets in in Indian cities, a large proportion of the population would already have been infected, and the speed would not be furious, said John

John is also worried that, if a second wave does arrive in India and restrictions are put in place, people may not strictly adhere to them as a sense of complacency has set in