How the Indian Govt. failed to control the spread of Covid-19
[1] Background
On May 01, 2021, daily Covid-19 cases in India crossed 400,000 for the first time, with 3523 new deaths being reported.
These, however, are just the official numbers. According to Bhramar Mukherjee, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan, the actual number of deaths is closer to two to five times that being reported by the government. In fact, some reports have even suggested that the actual number of deaths is anywhere from 10 to 15 times what is being reported by the government. The coronavirus situation is so bad in India that the government has had to resort to fudging data to save face, instead of taking prompt action.
This pandemic has pushed India’s medical capacities to the limit, and then some further. The healthcare system is on the verge of breaking, as the country is devastated by a second Coronavirus wave.
Hospitals are not the only institutions struggling to cope, however, the situation in India is so unfathomably bad that even crematoriums are struggling to keep up with the amount of dead bodies, to the point where many bodies are being burnt on roads, and trees in parks are being cut down to use in funeral pyres.
Says Jitender Singh Shanty, who is coordinating hundreds of cremations everyday in Delhi — “If we get more bodies then we will cremate on the road. There is no more space here. We had never thought we would see such horrible scenes.”
This is how France24 described the situation — “wailing ambulances regularly bring more bodies. People in homes overlooking the crematorium live with the stench of burning bodies and the cries of grieving families”
[2] How did we get here?
As much as it may seem that the second wave of Covid-19 came out of nowhere, it is not the case either. The government had been informed about the new and more contagious variant of Covid-19 in early March by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics Consortium (INSACOG). The government, however, did not impose significant measures to combat the virus. Had it taken action right then and there, the situation would have undoubtedly been significantly better. But if the government had indeed intended to take action, it would have done so months ago.
But even though the situation has gotten out of hand, the government continues to act as if everything is fine. As ridiculous as it may sound, as absolutely unbelievable as it may seem, India recently declined assistance offered to it by the United Nations of its integrated supply chain, saying that it has a “robust system” to deal with the required logistics.
Not only did the government decline assistance, it also failed to take any action to mitigate the spread of the virus. In the midst of all of this terrible second wave of the virus that India is facing, 3.5 million pilgrims attended the Kumbh Mela, no masks, no social distancing, nothing. Three and a half million people. What did the government do? The Uttarakhand Chief Minister, in response, made it clear that he did not oppose this whatsoever, saying that the Kumbh Mela was open for any and all, and that there would be no ‘rok-tok’ or no opposition from the government.
Inspector General Sanjay Gunjyal, meanwhile, expressed his fears of a stampede if the police tried to intervene and enforce social distancing measures. Oh, if only the stampede had been the worst that could have happened, inspector! Medical experts have said that the Kumbh Mela has rapidly accelerated the spread of Covid-19 in Uttrakhand, but in spite of this there was no action taken to cut the month long event short.
Furthermore, in spite of all that was going on in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a massive election rally in West Bengal. Mamta Banarjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, and Rahul Gandhi, too held election rallies in West Bengal amidst this deadly second wave. It is as if our politicians just do not care!
Not only has the government done hardly anything to improve the Coronavirus situation, it has gone a step further and prevented the situation from improving. Since January, India has exported 66 million doses of vaccines overseas. 66 million doses that it could have administered to its own citizens, and hugely mitigated the spread of the Coronavirus in the country. Ah, but as the Quint rightly put it — “by questioning these decisions we are coming in the way of sahib’s diplomatic master-strokes.” Sarcasm aside, let us look at the numbers. As of 01 May 2021, about 150 million shots have been given in India, about 11.5% of the population. In comparison, had India not exported those vaccines, roughly another 5.1% of the population could have received shots.
[3] New variant
The Indian Covid-19 variant, which has a higher infectivity rate, has also spread to 17 other countries in the meantime, as nations around the world close their borders to people travelling to India.
In fact, the situation has gotten so bad that Australia has temporarily banned its citizens from returning from India, with breaches resulting in a fine of upto $51,000 and/ or five years imprisonment.
[4] A message from the author
The coronavirus situation in India was undoubtedly handled poorly, and the nation suffers due to the ignorance of the government. So it is my sincere request to you, dear reader — Hold the government accountable. Please. Ask questions & demand answers.
“Democracy is when the people keep a government in check” — Aung San Suu Kyi
Sources
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“Covid Vaccine: How Many People Has India Vaccinated?” BBC News, 19 Mar. 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-56345591.
Ethiraj, Govindraj. “By Hiding the Real Number of Covid-19 Cases and Deaths, Some Indian States Are Disempowering People.” Scroll.in, 27 Apr. 2021, scroll.in/article/993324/by-hiding-the-real-number-of-covid-19-cases-and-deaths-some-indian-states-are-disempowering-people.
Gettleman, Jeffrey, et al. “As Covid-19 Devastates India, Deaths Go Undercounted.” The New York Times, 24 Apr. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/04/24/world/asia/india-coronavirus-deaths.html.
“India Crematoriums at Breaking Point as Covid Toll Mounts.” France 24, 27 Apr. 2021, www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210427-india-crematoriums-at-breaking-point-as-covid-toll-mounts. Accessed 2 May 2021.
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