India: Struggling to Breathe

By Ananya Sanyal

Disclaimer - This blog piece's contents reflect the writer's personal views and not that of Girl Up Janaki.

(As of April 23rd)

According to Time magazine, on April 23rd, India recorded over three lakh cases of COVID-19, setting a new record for most new cases in a single day, globally. Currently, India is second only to the USA in terms of overall cases, but given India’s population and the rate of growth, India may overtake the USA in days. Experts say, India’s numbers are a dramatic underestimate and the actual number of casualties could be around 10,000 a day rather than the 3,000 being reported. Every day, the disease is coming closer and people are dying while there is nothing we can do. This has led to unprecedented frustration and helplessness.

As the second wave of coronavirus sweeps India off its feet, half of the country, including our leaders, live life in an alternate reality. The country lives on, seemingly unaware of these horrors. Mass gatherings for Kumbh were encouraged with full-page ads leading to thousands of extra cases spreading all across the country. The Wire says that Uttarakhand’s chief minister declared that COVID can’t stop true worshippers and love for God will help us fight this catastrophe. Prime Minister Narendra Modi even tweeted that Kumbh was symbolic in fighting the pandemic. Now pictures of the event are going viral globally, and India is the poster child for mishandling a pandemic.

As I write this, Bengal is going through an eight-phase election. While all parties asked for a curtailed schedule that would let the rallies take place in sections, only the ruling party at the centre sent an objection to this idea in writing. Images from the election rallies are truly horrifying. Till a day back, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister were conducting huge, mask-less rallies instead of focusing on the pandemic. NDTV says that pleas from state governments for oxygen have reportedly gone unanswered, as our strategists are sitting in West Bengal, asking for votes.

While we face the worst of the pandemic, we’ve been told private vaccines will be available for everybody over 18 starting May 1st. They have declared the largest part of our population will be vaccinated, with no plan in sight. These campaigns require months of structuring and just announcing it won’t make it happen. Shouldn’t the government be actively reallocating resources from the election campaigns and Kumbhs of the world to a properly executed vaccination drive? There are two obvious concerns that pop up: 1) where will so many vaccines come from in the next six days and 2) how do they plan to get the vaccine to every Indian citizen? India is not making vaccines at a fast enough rate to have our whole adult population vaccinated in the next three years. Supplies are already running short and imports have also been delayed. Not to mention, even if the vaccines are administered in the next week, it will take six to eight weeks for that to have even the smallest of impacts. What is India’s plan for the time in between? Now it is, of course, commendable that our government wants to vaccinate everyone, however, it would be better if it was in our capacity to do so.

There are more issues the government is failing to tackle. The shortage of hospital beds, ventilators, ICU beds, and medicines is far worse than anything we’ve seen before. The largest issue is that of oxygen. We’ve all heard the news: Oxygen cylinder leakage in Nashik, 22 dead; SOS from Ganga Ram hospital, 25 dead; Hospitals running out of supply, only 8-24 hours of oxygen left. These were all preventable ordeals. But because the government failed to tackle them in time, there are now a lot more issues: frauds trying to earn money, politicians blocking cylinders meant for other states, and higher costs on medical oxygen. Children’s playgrounds are being turned into crematoriums. Schools are being shut because the teachers are too sick to teach and the students too sick to learn. The country is falling apart and it is too severe to be fixed now. The central and state governments should have had more foresight. They should have had a plan in case this happened.

Meanwhile, to help those in need, the youth has been circulating messages and resources for all of India. They have spent countless hours trying to find plasma donors for strangers across the country. They have offered everything they can to those who need it: doing their school assignments, running errands, delivering food. We have turned Twitter into the nation’s COVID helpline. Parallel to this, our leaders get on national television, address a country in shambles, and have absolutely nothing to say.

“हमें देश को लॉकडाउन से बचाना है,” our Prime Minister said in his speech. Translation – “We have to save our nation from a lockdown.” He is not wrong. A lockdown could have irreparable damage to our struggling economy. However, given the condition of the healthcare industry in our nation, it’s more important to save us from the pandemic. The lockdown should be the last resort, but unfortunately, we don’t have any more time. Every few minutes, someone who could have been saved is dying because our government didn’t do what was needed. A structured lockdown could prevent the spread of the virus while ensuring our economy doesn’t fall through the cracks. Shops don’t need to be shut, they just need to be carefully monitored to make the purchasing experience safe. Unnecessary travel or gatherings of any kind need to be strongly prevented. Instead of coming out to ask for votes, members of political parties should be asking their people to wear masks and stay at home. We need all possible resources, thinkers, and doers concentrating on only one problem because we’re still falling towards the bottom of the pit and we have a long way to go.