Hyderabad: Where have we all--as a nation, society and as individuals--gone wrong in containing the Covid-19 pandemic. The question, even if it remains unanswered, or even veiled, apparently makes no difference at a time when health infrastructure has nearly collapsed.
Doctors, particularly subject specific experts, never stopped cautioning us about the risks of complacency. But, those at the helm of the affairs showed by riding a high horse. It is no wonder that those who celebrated the so-called success after the first Covid-19 wave were not medical professionals.
Sri Lanka, a nation of 21 million was the first country in the world to conduct elections in the midst of a pandemic. But it should not have been an inspiration for a nation of 1.3 billion. In India, Bihar held an election during the first Covid-19 wave. Though the situation was not as grim as it is today, much of the election campaigning was held in virtual/online mode.
In all subsequent elections, free mass vaccination was the oft-made promise. But in a move that now seems disastrous, vaccines were donated to other countries even when not a fraction of the country's population had been inoculated.
This misplaced philanthropy has come at a high cost.
Everyday, more than 300,000 people are tested positive and graveyards and crematoriums are filled with bodies.
There are three things which could have saved us from this-- masks and social distance, and vaccination. Although much is wanting, people, by and large use masks now.
But as far as vaccination is concerned, various quarters concerned have to gear up on a war-footing basis. Until the overwhelming majority of the population is vaccinated, it appears the people are on their own.
The number of daily positive cases in the country is frightening. Even more frightening is the expert warning that the peak of the spread is yet to arrive. By the time infections peak, we expect the health infrastructure, especially oxygen supplies, are adequately augmented.
Long queues at crematoriums across India, particularly in densely populated states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra besides the capital city- New Delhi- demonstrate how Covid-19 has had a free run because people stopped following guidelines and officials became complacent. At this crucial juncture, people look to the judiciary for setting things right.
In this regard, it was heartening to know that the Madras High Court held the Election Commission of India "singularly responsible" for the vicious second wave of Covid-19. The court said ECI officials should be booked for murder. Referring to election rallies which were being carried in the election-bound states, the court asked the commission if it was on another planet when political rallies were being held.
In fact, when the graveyards and crematoriums were being filled everyday with dead bodies, pictures and videos of mass gatherings in the election-bound states were displayed on TV screens more often than reports about the impact of the virus.
Nowhere was this competition for big election rallies more fiercely witnessed than in West Bengal, currently the battleground for an important state election.
Speeches of politicians hardly contained any word of caution for people who had come to listen to them. It doesn't come as a surprise then that every second resident of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, has tested Covid-19 positive during the past few days.
Not to talk about the Kumbh Mela in Uttarakhand where lakhs of people gathered at one place for weeks which was justified for being an open air event which was made to believe was free of risk. Now there are some soliloquies from same leaders in support of covid guidelines who earlier flouted them.
