Is the coronavirus pandemic entering a second wave?
- Unclear whether Covid-19 will have similar trajectory to 1918 flu pandemic, which is infamous for its more lethal later surge
- Experts say the term is ambiguous but people’s behaviour and government actions will be critical
02:45
Global Covid-19 death toll hits 500,000 as coronavirus infections surge past 10 million
But whether this means such areas are seeing a second wave remains unclear, largely due to the ambiguity of the term, experts say.
Many caution against declaring a new rise in case numbers in areas or countries where cases had appeared to decline as a “second wave”, since an uptick of cases as social distancing restrictions are relaxed did not necessarily mean the start of a new cycle – or the end of old one – especially if there was still a significant amount of transmission.
Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaking in a June 18 interview with The Washington Post, said the United States was still in the first wave, even as case rates decline and increase at different times in various regions of the country.
01:26
South Korea battling a ‘second wave’ of coronavirus infections, Seoul health officials say
John Mathews, an honorary professor at the University of Melbourne’s School of Population and Global Health, said a second wave would typically be characterised by a dramatic decline followed by a sudden comeback in the numbers of cases.