India’s position has been on the verge of sinking ever since the second wave of coronavirus emerged across the nation. In today’s scenario, the second COVID-19 wave is deadlier than the primary first wave, which we thought to be the worst time in our lives. The comparison of numbers between the first and the second wave would leave a lot of institutions staggered. As per the health ministry’s data, the Covid-19 tally reached 97,894 cases per day from 8,105 transmissions per day in nearly four months during the first wave.
In the second wave, which is considered more contagious, the numbers started to show an upward trajectory in February. Covid-19 cases spiked from 8,365 cases per day to 180,000 cases per day in just 70 days. The reasons for the current spike haven’t been validated yet by the ministry but they have scuffed the blame on the citizens and the hospital authorities for not complying with the protocols. On the other hand, our political leaders are leading the spread of the virus with the election campaigns.
The rapid pace at which the second wave is transmitting exhibits how new strains of coronavirus are making it back-breaking for the economy. The Covid-19 spike comes even as India carries out the world’s monumental vaccination program. The figures show that the country crossed the landmark milestone of the highest single-day vaccine coverage of over 43 lakh doses.
The reality is grim with side effects, signs of blood clots, and with gardeners and laborers carrying out the vaccination drive. Has the government lost its confidence in the authorities to save humans? And that’s why they are procuring their efforts on risking the lives of the citizens? Where would the hot-headed war between the hospitals and the leaders take India? The second wave could become uncontrollable if such incidents continue to hinder the vaccination drive.
The second wave is spreading rapidly, and there has been no answer for it yet.
Many experts across India and the world believe the surge gets partly fuelled by new strains of the coronavirus, including a more infectious homegrown variant in 61% of the genome of the sample sequenced in Maharashtra. The second wave has been grueling due to many states reporting a shortage of hospital beds, oxygen supply, medicines, even space in morgues and crematoriums.
There have been many unclear doubts in expert’s minds as they ponder over many critical questions. Whether the second wave is manifesting in different demographic and clinical outcomes is unknown. Are the trends of infections moving from adults to younger people? All these arguments circulate within the authorities, and this has not been discovered yet. The pace at which severe cases are rising in India is throttling at an out-of-control pandemic scenario. The transmission rate has elongated ever since the emergence of the second wave.
“The virus seems to have acquired a greater transferability now,” said Dr. SP Kalantri, professor of Medicine and Medical Superintendent at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Sevagram, Maharashtra. Compared to last year, the entire family is getting infected in the second wave varying from grandparents to children. It presumably means that the threat quotient of transmission has increased substantially. The allegation that asserts that people have become careless is complete nonsense. It is predominantly because the virus has changed its form and the government’s ineptitude to control the virus has been reflected once again.
The Policymakers have been Building the Euphoria that Never Existed
Dr. Harsh Vardhan lauded the Prime Minister’s leadership as an example to the world in international cooperation. His unbridled optimism was based on a sharp drop in reported infection. The euphoria at beating the virus has been prolonged since the last year. Politicians, the government, and the avenues believed that India had evacuated from the risk of the virus. But they don’t even know that they were building the assumption that never existed. India’s infections might have slightly stayed out of the surge for some time, but It was merely due to lack of testing.
The infections didn’t go away as there wasn’t a cure developed at that point. The officials started hiding the real data in fear of shame that India has not responded well to the coronavirus crisis. The evidence almost resembled a beautiful carved-out statement “economy was breaking out amidst winter’s lengthening shadows towards a place in sunlight.” These comments were ludicrous and didn’t have any effect on the crippling crisis.
The diplomacy level has risen to such an extent that Narendra Modi was called a vaccine guru. The euphoria that was hyped so long was staggered with the second wave. The second wave has presented its new dilemma, but it has never been in control. There are some particular reasons as to why the Government’s incompetence got validated which include, shortage of beds, shortage of oxygen supply, and vaccine efficacy concerns.
Shortage of Beds has been the Primitive Concern in the Second Wave
Many Indian cities have been on the verge of becoming non-existent in containing the supply of amenities, and it has surged with the shortage of hospital beds. It became inevitable with the outrage and the people agonizing and asking for help on their social media handles. The appeal for beds has been a talking point for months, and the government has been unmoved from any cries in agony and pain. Troublesome reports of people dying without getting procured treatment brought out visuals from distinctive parts of the country.
Several state governments have claimed that they are looking to integrate new facilities, but the experts believe it is hardest to part ways with the second wave. It is becoming tremendously helpless in controlling the pace of the rising number of infections. We haven’t learned any lessons from the first wave. We had reports of cities and hospitals running short of beds even in the first wave and that should have been a good enough opportunity to be prepared for the second wave. The worst affected states have been the metropolitan cities including Delhi and Maharashtra. Around 10% of beds are vacant across the cities, and this shows the extent of transmission the new variant has caused.
The government’s out of the blue strategy has proved costly.
The BJP led Government is running short of ideas to control the surge of infections, and it is only showing concern to the situation once in a blue moon. The lack of transparency over testings and vaccines has hampered the progress of many hospitals. Whether it was due to the shortage of beds, or other critical concerns, the situation has only mounted troublesome moments. We have seen more examples of severe cases in recent months than the whole year of lockdown.
It was inevitable that the situation in India under the present jurisdiction would be worse, but such staggering audacity to be unaffected by the sufferings of the pandemic wasn’t expected. The situation does not vary across different Indian citizens, and experts believe that the officials did not use the lean period to boost the facilities. There seems to be a lack of coordination between states and the federal government over the supply of oxygen and essential drugs. This cringing scenario has been impulsive in rapidly increasing the pace of coronavirus.
Hospital Beds, Vaccine Efficacy have Unprecedentedly put India in a weakened position than the first wave.
When it comes to enacting prompt decisions and implementing effective strategies, PM Narendra Modi has wavered his lack of knowledge on certain issues. The government is urging the scientists to retract oxygen from the atmosphere to increase the oxygen supply and contrarily holding stocks of cylinders and giving to their preferred candidates. How can the government have such audacity is beyond explanation?
We have an uncovered aspect and is bubbling up the dire of the pandemic. The situation is much direr when it comes to ICU Beds. Several cities have just a few dozen ICU beds vacant, and they are now regressively trying to build infrastructure across other commercial places and public avenues like the hotels and the stadiums. The reminiscence of last year is stabbing us, but this time with its full force. Thanks to the government, adding beds alone will not be enough to curb the second wave.
Dr. Fatahudeen says,” We need to ensure that most of these beds have oxygen facilities. We need more doctors and nurses to manage extra ICU Beds.” According to his comments, one thing can be ascertained that oxygen supply shortage has been the monumental element in the second wave. Cases haven’t been taking such a toll in the past year maybe it was because of the fewer reported infections, who knows!
Variants in Play!
India on March 25 announced that a new double mutant variant of the coronavirus had been detected from samples collected from different states. The tormenting virus hasn’t had any inkling on positive vibes for the Citizens, and the double mutant is going to increase the misery. Virologist Shahid Jameel had his say on the topic and expressed his utter disappointment with the government. He says the change in the virus is the only logical explanation behind the surge. Health officials in India are now investigating whether the double mutant variant is more Infectious and evades vaccines.
India started to look at mutations fairly late as it was laundering on the fact that the nation might be out of the woods. The shocking catastrophic unraveled when the reports of the genome sequencing came out, and it was only around 5,000 samples by the end of last year. The bearings were a nowhere compliant and concentrated effort. The time India’s government started evaluating the merits of the variant in February, the second wave has already taken its toll in India. Sequencing was the key for the scientists as it helps them to monitor the changes in the virus.
It seemed like India left the solutions off late and focused on integrating economic measures to improve the situation. Well, that too hasn’t provided any relief. Although India has miscalculated the decipher, it is never too late to take measures. We need to build up and reinforce safety notions and accelerate the process of vaccination. Keeping an eye on the emerging mutants becomes ever so crucial as it is deadlier than most existing ones. The question remains a big if. If we take up valiant efforts collectively, then only the hindrance of coronavirus will lose its grip from India.
Second Wave isn’t Stopping its Deadly Precinct, and the government has no answers.
It has been a downright fact that the first wave was much lighter in terms of deadly conversion of severe cases. The surge that was incepted in Mid-March is depicting worrying signs ahead for the country as the supplies are on the verge of extinction. The bearings are becoming more readily apparent, and the government hasn’t been able to respond well.
The pace at which the hospitals’ beds are filling up, the time has come where the hospital could be just prioritizing severe cases. The experts had warned during the first wave that the patterns of the variants should not get comprehended easily. Just then, the government remained affirmed on its stance that the country is in good hands, but now it is inevitably clear that the second wave is a mighty one and is shredding the lives of innocent citizens into pain and sorrows.
