Hyderabad:We are calling it a wave, it is actually a tsunami, said the Delhi High Court recently while hearing on the issue of oxygen crisis in Delhi. Last year, the first Covid case was reported in January and it took six months for the pandemic to cross 25 lakh cases.
In what is being termed as the second wave, the number of cases crossed 26 lakhs within a week’s time. In this period 23,800 mortalities were reported. According to government statistics, 5,417 covid mortalities took place in the month of March. The official data also states that the pandemic claimed 45,000 lives in the month of April alone.
The total covid cases have crossed the 2 crore mark in India with 34 lakh active cases at the moment. All this data indicates a major social crisis.
Several foreign agencies have warned that the daily number of cases in India will cross 10 lakhs and mortalities will be in the range of 5,000 per day this month. Following these revelations, there is strong demand for the imposition of a nation-wide lockdown once again.
According to the Union Government, 73 percent of the cases reported are from Maharashtra, UP, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu, AP, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Delhi. It is calling for stringent implementation of lockdown norms in the 150 districts where a surge of cases is reported.
Haryana and Odisha are the latest to announce lockdown. The States have imposed curfews and announced stringent measures. Yet the pandemic is refusing to come under control. Several countries have banned arrivals from India and thus locked the country from outside. The union government should strongly consider imposing lockdown in consultation with the States to cut the chain of disease transmission.