India's Ongoing Covid Crisis

India was applauded at first for a strict lockdown enforced nationwide. However, in less than a few months, the flaws in the plan were unveiled for the whole world to see.The poor were stranded, with no way home in large cities, where they couldn’t even afford a meal. The crowds hoarded together for a meal, with social distancing being a distant priority; after all, dying of hunger seemed to be a more probable outcome. In places where the COVID cases were few, people were locked in their houses. At the time, the idea proved to be a success, it lasted for a short amount of time. As cases were few, India celebrated as they believed they had eradicated the virus from the country. But in reality, India had only experienced its first brush with the deadly virus. Their response was like a Monet painting, beguiling from far away-but a mess once analyzed closely.

While India was reaping the short-lived benefits, all the other countries, no matter their wealth, were preparing for the second wave of COVID. Everyone knew it was inevitable; developed countries were all experiencing it and it was a matter of time before it hit everyone. But not India; in fact the COVID community hadn’t met since April of 2020. Almost a year later however, the tale of India is opposite.

While last year few residents got the virus, today India makes up almost 50% of the cases reported weekly. And this is after the bulk of them go unreported. The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) estimates the true number of new daily infections is around 8 million—the equivalent of the entire population of New York City being infected every day. Official reports say 254,000 people have died in India since the start of the pandemic, but the IHME estimates the true toll is more than 750,000—a number researchers predict will double by the end of August. According to a BBC report, 7 times the people India has reported have died of COVID. While people in America were visiting art galleries and the CDC was publishing guidelines for vaccinated people, few in India could access even the bare minimum.

However, few countries did much to help. In fact, America only pledged to help India after international scrutiny and pressure, even though less than a year ago India Had helped most countries by supplying them with the necessary medicines. America decided to give India its AstraZeneca stockpile; which hasn’t been approved for use in the US yet. They have promised to give over sixty million doses to India over six months, but sent ten million in the first week. However, at this point, many people who could have benefited from this have already passed away.

Since the beginning of May, dozens of bodies have washed up on the banks of the river Ganges, with some villagers saying they were forced to leave the dead in the water amid soaring funeral costs and shortages of wood for cremation. The government is doing what it does best at such a critical time; nothing. To make matters worse; less than 2.8 percent of the population was vaccinated as of May 12th. However, this disaster highlights another problem; one of socioeconomic status.

As daily-wage earners were banned from going to work to sustain their livelihood, prime minister Narendra Modi decided that elections were a must. Elections in three different states proceeded; with voting and campaigns all in person. So, can India even be helped at this point? Many countries have given money and resources; with Biden giving raw materials to make vaccines and also AstraZeneca vaccines to help India. Many fundraisers have taken place, raising millions of dollars. Celebrities have tried to bring attention to the dire situation in India and to get their fans to donate. While this can help curb some of the spread; it can’t do anything to the new variants already taking root on India’s soil.

The B.1.617 variant of the virus, first detected in India, has now been found in 44 countries on every continent except Antarctica—including Nepal, the U.S. and much of Europe. Scientists say it could be more infectious and better at avoiding humans’ immune systems. On May 10, the World Health Organization declared it a variant of “global concern.” And since only around 0.1% of positive samples in India are being genetically sequenced, “there may well be others that have emerged,” says Amita Gupta, deputy director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Clinical Global Health Education. Because of the lack of genetic sequencing, very few variants have even been found by now. Worse of all, however, is how complacently the government is taking this.

They still grapple with the narrative of saving India. People are suppressed and have close to no voice. In fact, their right to ask for oxygen was taken to the Supreme court, where they were finally allowed to post about medical supplies that were missing. Last year, Amartya Sen, a Nobel laureate best known for his work on the causes of famine, wrote in the Guardian about his country’s slide toward tyranny. “The priority of freedom seems to have lost some of its lustre for many people,” he said, and yet “the growth of authoritarianism in India demands determined resistance.” India has also expressed disdain at Facebook and Twitter allowing posts criticizing the Indian government of its handling of the COVID crisis. Some posts were even taken down, as Indian law limits what the companies can say about these government orders. However, not all is bad.

As Nayantara Dutta (an NBC writer notes), “In a country of many contrasts, we may be facing the same crisis, but we are all experiencing different realities, which creates nuances in our perspectives, depending on our privilege and personal circumstances. There are important differences between the situations in different cities and states — each of which has its own lockdown rules and vaccine availability.” In the end, it comes down to the same factor everywhere; your privilege.

Sources:

1. Biswas, Soutik. “India's Covid Crisis: The Newsroom Counting the Uncounted Deaths.” BBC News, BBC, 10 May 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-56969086.

2. Bond, Shannon. “India's Government Is Telling Facebook, Twitter To Remove Critical Posts.” NPR, NPR, 27 Apr. 2021, www.npr.org/2021/04/27/991343032/indias-government-is-telling-facebook-twitter-to-remove-critical-posts.

3. Coll, Steve. “The Politics Behind India's COVID Crisis.” The New Yorker, 2021, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/17/the-politics-behind-indias-covid-crisis.

4. Perrigo, Billy. “India's COVID-19 Crisis Is Becoming a Global Emergency.” Time, Time, 12 May 2021, time.com/6047957/india-covid-19-global-crisis-variant/.

5. Saheli Rc. “India Hits Another Grim Record as WHO Says It Accounted for Half of Last Week's Reported Cases.” CNBC, CNBC, 12 May 2021, www.cnbc.com/2021/05/12/india-covid-crisis-who-says-it-accounts-for-50percent-of-reported-cases-last-week.html.