Coronavirus Has Returned With A Vengeance
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-03-26 01:46:09
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
The second Covid wave is here. With fresh cases crossing the 50000 barrier, India is in the midst of a wave that threatens to surpass previous levels as almost everything is now open and with lockdown not being an option. Although an SBI report has said that the second wave will peak in mid-April, with laxity all around and no travel restrictions, one feels that it will take longer for the peak to arrive. In fact, one thinks that fresh cases in the second wave are likely to achieve fresh highs for the simple reason that there is going to be more interaction between people now.
On Thursday, 59117 fresh cases were reported, with Maharashtra alone reporting 35952 cases. In five days, one lakh fresh cases have been reported, making it the fastest period in which one lakh cases were reported since the beginning of the pandemic in India. Death toll also remains above 200 for the fifth day running. These are alarming figures and point to the fact that the virus has returned with a vengeance even as India seeks to vaccinate its people to keep them safe.
Although the Centre and the states have woken up to the danger, one feels that unlike the first time, they have delayed their response and allowed things to go out of hand. For instance, despite the Centre advising the states not to permit large gatherings, there has been no let up in political gatherings in the five states that are to have polls in March-April. These gatherings are likely to be super spreaders. Further, the Maha Kumbh Mela at Haridwar has not been cancelled. Although the government has made it mandatory for those who will attend the religious gathering to have a Covid negative certificate, ideally it should have been cancelled in view of the surge in Covid cases for a gathering of more than 7-8 lakh people is always dangerous in these times due to asymptomatic carriers.
Further, it is still seen that almost 50 percent of the people out on the street in cities and towns in India are not wearing masks. Many public places like malls and big stores have stopped screening people for body temperature and have even stopped providing hand sanitizers. People do not realize that if Covid protocols are not followed and if cases continue to rise, a country-wide lockdown, despite its devastating economic fallout, will become the only option to stop the spread. The Centre has reduced the age for vaccination to 45 (without co-morbidities) from April 1 and has temporarily stopped exports, but the pace of vaccination is still a concern. More centres have to be opened and the pace has to be accelerated substantially to fight the virus. Permission has to be granted to more vaccine candidates and vaccination has to be done on war footing.
