India is presently in the grip of a second wave of thekiller Covid-19 and its mutating strains which have laid siege to the entirecountry, galloping at unprecedented speed and infecting millions, that hasbaffled epidemiologists and scientists. It has taken the country’s score to arecord high of over a lakh positive cases per day. Goa which was sitting prettyduring the past few months, now finds itself in the red zone, with daily casesshooting up to 527 and a positivity rate of 20%. The situation in theCalangute-Candolim belt in particular, is stated to be spiralling out ofcontrol. A notable feature of the second wave, is its rapid speed and its‘cluster infections’, as reported by doctors of a few hospitals in Mumbai,which is said to infect people in groups at weddings and social gatherings. Thesituation is indeed grim and can be best described in the words of one of Goa’sleading epidemiologists: “We are fighting an unknown enemy blindfolded. Nobodyknows what type of strains are in circulation in the State and what are itsfeatures.”
