India today reported 3.45 lakh cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours. It also reported unimaginable 2621 deaths in a single day. And we all know well that the actual number of positive cases and Covid deaths are much higher than the reported figure.
What is the cause of so many deaths this time around? It is a prime question being asked by the people. The answer is in two parts, the first one that the mutated version of the Covid virus is much more active and deadly and the second is there is no Oxygen.
We all have been viewing the breathlessness of India on all news channels and news reports when we see the heartbreaking and weird views of people dying like flies while the state and the government have been helplessly watching. It is horrific to see as if the entire system in India has failed miserably and the people are paying for the sins of our politicians who lacked the vision in anticipating such a nightmarish situation and their casualness in preparation for such an eventuality.
Visuals from ground zero by field reporters showing hundreds of people lying outside hospitals waiting for their turn. Some of them die before their turn can come, while others find a bed but still can’t make it because of the lack of Oxygen and other medical resources.
We never thought of this helpless and chaotic stage the country has arrived in. The nation is in the throes of the worst wave of Covid and news and social media is flooded with cries and pains of families seeking help to find the bed, Oxygen and required treatment for their loved one to fight the virus. Various states across the country have announced curfews and lockdowns, strict measures to curb the spread. Among the various worst-hit states, Maharashtra and Delhi are reeling under an unrelenting surge of cases. Medicos and healthcare workers on the frontline are experiencing burnout and stress of another kind when it comes to battling the virus the second time due to the pandemic as they did not have any respite after the first wave hit the country.
The grim situation of the pandemic can easily be termed as one of the most devastating events to hit the world in the modern history. The issue is not that the current situation is unprecedented but it is our inability and lack of wisdom to have been better prepared for dealing with such serious diseases than what we were a century ago despite all our technological advancements. We are still stuck trying to flatten the deadly curve without much success. Perhaps the most glaring and equally telling issue faced when it comes to dealing with this situation is the lack of proper medical infrastructure to handle the ever-increasing number of critical patients, who are fighting not only for their lives but also for life-saving medical equipment and resources like ventilators and Oxygen.
One would assume that after learning from the last year’s lessons, there was a chance for us to strengthen our domestic healthcare delivery system and build a world-class healthcare infrastructure. However, the bottleneck with regard to this goal is not one of will but of knowledge itself, as the technical know-how required to build the best quality ventilators have been monopolised by some companies to maximise their profits.
The situation is so bad that even the word disastrous falls short of its real sense and do justice. There are people and volunteer bodies out there trying their best to help others but even they cannot do much. So please stay at home, stay safe as by doing so you will be helping the collective efforts of the society.
