Coronavirus: Actor Kamal Haasan tests COVID+ after US trip; why we must not let our guards down, even without a third wave

Tamil actor and politician Kamal Haasan is the latest celebrity to have been diagnosed COVID+, after returning from a recent trip to the USA. The 67-year-old, who is vaccinated against COVID-19 has been hospitalized for the same, while he is said to only have mild symptoms of the same. The news of the actor's tryst with COVID-19 comes at a time when a surge in cases across many countries has been noticed, and fresh lockdowns have been imposed as well, despite significant vaccination coverage. In India too, while cases are at an all-time low, there have been reported sporadic outbreaks, and while scientists continue to delve into the protection and efficacy of available vaccines, there's still a pressing need to not let the masks off so easily.

While India has witnessed outbreaks of dengue, flu and pollution-related ailments in the recent weeks, it has also become very noticeable that our approach to COVID has become pretty lax of late. Although there were speculations of a possible third COVID wave coming up, COVID has become less fearful than ever, which unfortunately isn't all good. With the lack of availability of booster shots, waning vaccine immunity, and callousness, many worry that we might witness a repeated strike of the second wave in India, and thus, must be absolutely avoided.

If you have been fully vaccinated and resuming life in the pandemic-induced normalcy, here are some absolute safety measures which should never be forgotten, whether or not a third wave is to come:

While countries continue to log coronavirus cases despite a low rise, there are still chances of new variants of coronavirus coming up and causing havoc. The rise in the caseload in parts of US and Europe, especially in places with skewed vaccination rates is being witnessed right now, some concerns have been raised that new variants of COVID-19 could come up in early spring, and waning immunity seen with the vaccines could fuel a possible resurgence. While India has no policies on the usage of booster vaccines as of right now, it's being estimated that we'll get to get to see the gravitas of the COVID pandemic in the coming weeks, when the effects of initial vaccination rollout, and immunity gained through the second wave starts to go down.

Thus, even if we do not record high worrying COVID cases right now, we cannot consider it to be the true end of COVID-19 in India, and if the global surges of coronavirus are to be observed, this is not the time to be lax or complacent in our approach, even if we are fully vaccinated.

Masks have been one of the strongest forces of support during the course of the pandemic. While their initial use was doubted, it has been clinically seen that masks not only protect the ones in the crowd, but if a sick individual wears one, it also limits the risk of transmission. More so, even with vaccination, using masks in an appropriate manner go a long way in amping up protection and reducing risks of breakthrough infections, symptom severity and contagiousness in a public setting, where you cannot always be in the know of one's vaccination status. Masks can also be good in case for an individual who may have been vaccinated in the past, or the vaccine may not work as effectively on them. Hence, whether or not you are sure about the public risks, using good quality masks, the ones which cover your nose as well as your mouth are a good risk mitigator.

Post prolonged isolation, people have started resuming normalcy, are slowly getting out and there's been a large uptick in travel tourism, and weddings, fueling large gatherings where social distancing may not always be maintained. Even if you are vaccinated, and know the relative risks of the ones around you, social distancing still needs to be maintained. Evaluating risks and knowing the safety levels of any gathering is the best way to assess how safe an event could be. Before venturing out, check vaccination status (if you can), gather outdoors preferrably. Gatherings amongst vaccinated people would be the safest one right now, provided due diligence and adherence to distancing is maintained to an extent. It would also be advisable to only travel to places where there's a low COVID risk and strict adherence to protocols.

Pollution levels can be a very terrible risk factor which could add to the COVID risks. While air pollution has been identified to have caused a 11% rise in severe COVID cases, heavy pollutants in the air can also cause viruses to linger and stay suspended in the air for long, causing infections. Further, since it's a deterrent to proper respiratory health and immunity levels, it could further make one susceptible to COVID complications and severe symptoms. Do not take conditions lightly, avoid unnecessary exposure and safeguard your health for the better.

While it's undoubtedly a good measure to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the highest risks entail for the risk groups who were the first to be vaccinated post rollout, i.e. frontline workers, senior citizens and adults with comorbidities, simply because they are at the highest risk of waning or diminishing vaccine immunity, and because of the nature of their exposure and health risks, need added care and precautionary steps. Even if you are someone who has recently recovered from COVID or a serious illness, be safe while you step out and do not take matters lightly.