While second waves and secondary peaks within the period of a pandemic are technically different, the concern is essentially the same: the disease coming back in force.Although Singapore instituted a strong contact tracing system for its general population, the disease re-emerged in cramped dormitory accommodation used by thousands of foreign workers with inadequate hygiene facilities and shared canteens.A new cluster of coronavirus cases in the north-eastern city of Harbin near the Russian border has forced authorities to impose fresh lockdowns, after reporting near-zero local transmissions in recent weeks.Conventional wisdom among scientists suggests second waves of resistant infections occur after the capacity for treatment and isolation becomes exhausted. In this case the concern is that the social and political consensus supporting lockdowns is being overtaken by public frustration – which has triggered protests in the US and elsewhere – and the urgent need to reopen economies.The worry right now is that with a vaccine still months away, and the real rate of infection only being guessed at, populations worldwide remain highly vulnerable to both resurgence and subsequent waves.As repeated waves of the epidemic reduce susceptibility (whether through complete or partial immunity), they also reduce the force of infection, lowering the risk of illness even among those with no immunity.”
Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/20/will-there-be-second-wave-of-coronavirus-
