As flu and Covid-19 viruses tango, is a fourth Covid-19 wave making a stealthy return?
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A health worker collects a swab sample from a passenger to test for the Covid-19 coronavirus, on arrival at Anna International Airport in Chennai on December 24, 2022.
Synopsis
An unusual surge in seasonal flu cases and a rapidly spreading sub-lineage of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have triggered fresh worries. It has also proved once again that the coronavirus is supremely smart in surviving and thriving. Do these signal that a new wave is here?
Cold, cough, fever, bad throat. Is it Covid-19 or just a bout of seasonal flu? That question has left many confused over the past two months. Just when the gloomy memories of the pandemic seemed to be waning, a sense of déjà vu has set in. With uncannily identical symptoms of the H3N2 influenza virus and the coronavirus — more precisely Omicron’s latest sub-lineage XBB.1.16 — the spectre of the havoc it caused is back to haunt us. Although panic
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