SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2024
As India struggles to deal with a pandemic that has overwhelmed the medical services and is killing thousands a day, the only bright spot is that the country is finally seeing a drop in daily new COVID cases after this figure had soared to over four lakh new infections a day. The numbers that are released every day are still in the high three lakh figures, indicating that the risk is still high and that the crisis is not over. Unless the new cases drop drastically, India cannot claim that it has ridden the second wave.
The reasons for the overpowering second wave are many. World Health Organisation, following a risk assessment of the situation in India concluded that the “resurgence and acceleration” of COVID-19 transmission had several potential contributing factors, including religious and political mass gathering events which increased social mixing and under use of and reduced adherence to public health and social measures. WHO, however, was not able to identify the exact contribution of each of the factors on the rise in cases. These factors had already been attributed to the rise, it is only now that with WHO saying it there is an official endorsement to what had already been speculated.
India’s Covid crisis has turned into a matter of huge concern across the world. While countries are dispatching aid, there are reports that the strain found in India has now been discovered in other countries too. There are also reports that the efficacy of vaccines against the variant dominant in India may be reduced though they can still offer protection against severe conditions linked to COVID-19. India is not yet safe and as cases persist, States that had imposed lockdowns to bring down the numbers are still in restrictions. Maharashtra for instance, that entered into a lockdown on April 22, has extended the restrictions till the first of June as cases in the State are still rising with over 42,000 reported on a single day and deaths over 800. Another worrying trend is that India is currently accounting for approximately 50 per cent of the global cases and 30 per cent of the deaths due to COVID-19.
Against this backdrop, six opposition leaders, including three Chief Ministers of large States and a former Prime Minister, shot off a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi describing the situation in the country as of unprecedented dimensions of a human catastrophe. The letter has a nine-point charter of demands that stresses on free vaccination and procuring more oxygen and medical equipment, and stipulates that the Central Vista construction be stopped and the allocated money be instead used for procuring oxygen and vaccines. In the midst of the pandemic, where thousands are dying daily, the essential service classification to the Central Vista project is deplorable. That money can and should be diverted to save lives and alleviate the sufferings of the people.
As deaths pile up and cases are added in lakhs to the existing ones, the opposition is not wrong in calling the situation a catastrophe. It is just that, and inaction by the government has allowed this second wave of the pandemic to engulf the States. The least that the government can do is act on the charter of demands that has been made by the opposition leaders. They are not asking for a complete change of strategy, what has been demanded is the minimum that would be required to slow down the pace of the spread. India did take it easy after cases dropped and allowed the virus to return with a vengeance. The consequences have been a rise in cases and deaths.
