Reflections on the corona virus pandemic

Here is the latest picture of the pandemic. It is alarming to see the exponential rate of rise of corona virus-positive cases in India. Certainly, the optics of ' burning bodies' are horrific and scenes we may not be ready to digest. However, one of the basic reasons for this enormous infection rate in India is the negligence of the people. This is not to say they are foolish or diffident, it is just a general lack of seriousness combined with the necessity to put food on the table, no matter what. Rich countries are ready to throw money at the problem to solve it, not that they can effectively do. 

India, at the beginning of the virus infections, was even praised by the WHO for implementing what seemed draconian measures. Prime minister Modi became a hero. Yes, that did bring down the numbers and India had the lowest rate. It was clearly the imposition of the quarantine that achieved it not to mention that very few tests were carried out. It was a conclusion that was reached without data. Seeing the worldwide infection rate in Spain, Italy, UK, the USA, Brazil, etc. the Indians became complacent. During this time, my sister in India sent a picture of a gathering for a festival and I did not see anyone wearing a mask; social distancing is not really effective in a country like India, especially in an urban setting. That was just one case I cited but you can imagine that being enacted in millions of houses. Events like festivals, marriages, key religious events like Kumba Mela are instant recipes for spread. I am even surprised by the present low numbers, I expected a lot more. Where do you find a slum, like Dharavi, or the slums of Rio-de-Janeiro and the Philippines? It is no brainer that the most populous states with millionaires' houses abutting the slums have the largest infection. It all appears to be Deja-vu in many parts of the world, the dead bodies lying unattended in many parts of the world.

Yes, Modi is being criticized for not preparing for this horrific 'optic' of burning ghats and diggings of mass graves. Now, he has become the arch-villain. I am not sure what other person would have done better, given the demography and the chasm between the haves and have-nots. Sending away the vaccines at the beginning of the pandemic was really a business decision of the Serum Institute. Modi did show his belief in the Indian-made vaccine by getting himself injected with the then untested Indian vaccine, although Serum Institute would have gladly injected him with the Indian version of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Serum institute does not have the last word on the destination of the vaccines it produces because it has to follow contract clauses. 

The elections and the campaigning share a large part of the recent surge. The other part of the blame goes to the popular Kumbh Mela. Both are extremely valid reasons. Our evolution has not been able to curb the power of religions no matter which one. The early surge in South Korea came out of a church; a lot of the early positives came out of an Islamic meeting somewhere in the North of India; hundreds of others came from Hindu festivals small and big. Every religion has contributed and none have stood up to banning religious meetings. I am sure BJP would have lost some of its following if it had raised its finger to ban the festival. Religions win all the time.

At the beginning of the pandemic, President trump threatened Modi to part with Hydroxychloroquine (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52180660). More recently, Biden put a stop to exporting vaccine-related raw materials to India (https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/joe-biden-s-wartime-law-use-blocks-india-s-vaccine-rampup-101618984303659.html). Do you believe these are acts of world leaders who are concerned with global equality and happiness? They wanted to say 'America comes first. Nothing wrong with this, each country is on its own when it becomes something to do with its popular, voting base. Indian politics is no stranger to this kind of politics as politics has been the driving force from the inception of 'Bharath'. It should not surprise pundits that it is the nature of the beast, politics.

We need to take a dispassionate view of what is happening and the context. WHO tried to locate the exact origin of this virus from Wuhan. China did not cooperate and its masters decided it came from a laboratory in the USA, or from India. It is high time that China at least takes some blame. The media WEIBO seems to have celebrated what is happening in India recently by comparing the fire of the funerals with the exhaust plume of the rocket that flew parts of the Chinese International space station to ridicule India. Well, it appears to me that they did not stop the virus from going beyond their borders to create trouble for the rest of the world. The gains they have made during the pandemic are not insubstantial (China is the only country that made it good during the pandemic).

In the wake of the alarming number of infections in India, many countries have come forward to help and some have already helped. But more is needed. If the large-scale manufacturing facility in Pune, the home of the Serum Institute can work at full throttle all else cooperating, the ravages you have seen in India, Brazil, and other parts need not reenact in Africa and other vulnerable parts of the world.

I want to conclude this post by showing a 1-minute video that shows the instantaneous population of India. One should not conclude that this is in defense of whatever written earlier. It is a note of hope that we will be resurrected from this catastrophe. I deeply mourn the dead and feel pain for the people who are in dire straits grasping for the breath of life.

This video is from the following live site (https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/india-population/). I hope it is making an error-free data collection.