With the positive rate at an increase, India has entered the top 10 nations in the world with the highest cases. In the last four days, thousands of cases have been reported which have increased the overall infection toll in India. The government still says that the situation is under control. Is this control? Which party is fighting over who is transporting the migrant workers and who is providing the ration to the people, is the government neglecting the real issue?
Vaccine
In the past six months, there have been various false alarms regarding the development of the vaccine but they have not been fruitful till now. Social distancing has been the only way forward for the past six months and it seems like this will continue for another one year. With no vaccine being developed in the past few months, a minister has commented on the use of Ayurveda for the virus. India is the land of Ayurveda. It is too late to change statements now though.
4 out of the 14 COVID-19 vaccine candidates from India may enter the clinical trial stage in the next 3 to 5 months said the health Minister. The health ministry also says that the lockdown period has been utilized to ramp up the health infrastructure in the country.
Flights
The flights were supposed to start today. 80 flights are canceled at the Delhi airport due to the curbs by states today. The passengers were angry and annoyed. Lack of practical approach and more of publicity has led to this. The Mumbai airport has given out a statement that it will only deal with 50 domestic flights per day. With the dearth of flights, the ticket rate for every passenger might be high.
Amphan Cyclone
India does not just have to fight with the virus, the biggest disaster, Amphan has also come to India. Bengal has recorded the biggest spike of 208 pieces in the last few hours. With the situation worsening in the state, Bengal is trying to fight COVID-19 and the natural calamity simultaneously. The state government has also requested the airports authority of India for deferment of domestic flight operations. The government of West Bengal is involved in restoration work after the cyclone.
Polio, TB may resurge
A public health expert has also said that neglecting diseases like tuberculosis and Colin are during the lockdown may cause a lot of harm. Other diseases are being ignored because of one huge virus. Sidelined problems will only increase problems the country is facing. Routine immunisation of children for polio, measles and other diseases has not occurred during the lockdown. This has triggered serious concerns about resurgence of such diseases. Old enemies must not be forgotten because new issues have come up.
Innovative Cities
After various meetings and sharing of experiences between the ministers, the Centre has identified Jaipur and Indore for their innovative ways of tackling a high caseload. Chennai and Bangalore have been addressed as the states that we’re able to keep their mortality rates low. Indore and Jaipur have been conducting house-to-house surveys and contact tracing very efficiently. Indore has formed teams for lean by lane suspension and Jaipur has limited the vegetable vendors in different localities.
Bangalore and Chennai have a large number of cases but the mortality rate is at 1% against India’s 3%. Both the states have use the ventilators in optimum quantities. There are various states where the ventilators are being moved irrationally and the patient management is not very good. The city is of this tablet network of private hospitals and municipal authorities for pooling the health infrastructure and making the most use of it. GPS enabled ambulances are used for real-time tracking.
The country needs to come together and join hands for overruling the virus and coming out stronger from it. The people in power must take appropriate measures at the right time so that much damage is not done.
