by eMade » April 27th, 2021, 10:09 pm
The current 2nd-wave Covid-19 situation in India is really dire. India has recorded a huge surge in infection rates and deaths in the past days that the whole nation (and world) is shaking and trembling with fear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzpMToEIFO0
What do you think?
All Eyes on India
As Guardian South Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen detailed on Sunday’s GPS, India is being devastated by a horrific wave of Covid-19, mere months after it was noted as an odd exception to the global chaos, having suffered relatively few cases and deaths through the winter.
India’s rapid deterioration is now attracting global concern. “[W]ith reports of people dying in the streets outside overwhelmed hospitals running short of oxygen, India today perhaps most closely resembles the worst-case scenarios painted when the virus was identified 16 months ago,” the Financial Times editorial board observes. In a dispatch for The New York Times, Jeffrey Gettleman writes, “Crematories are so full of bodies, it’s as if a war just happened. … India is now recording more infections per day—as many as 350,000—than any other country has since the pandemic began, and that’s just the official number, which most experts think is a vast underestimation.” The UK “has begun sending ventilators and oxygen concentrator devices,” the BBC reports, and the US has lifted a ban on the export of raw materials for vaccines and will send other supplies, such as protective equipment and rapid tests.
How did India get here? In a panel discussion hosted by Brown University’s Center for Contemporary South Asia, public-health dean Dr. Ashish Jha recounted a low point of daily new infections in India of fewer than 10,000 on Feb. 11; when that figure rose to around 18,000 roughly two weeks later, the near doubling was worrisome, but the low total made it “easy to ignore.” Since then, the country has taken a lax approach, especially to large, outdoor gatherings.
“We’ve seen the political rallies, we’ve seen the Kumbh Mela”—a massive Hindu religious gathering on the banks of the Ganges—“we’ve seen packed stadiums with cricket matches and movie halls, all the things that one cannot afford to do in the middle of a global pandemic,” Jha said. While a so-called “double mutant” Covid-19 variant has drawn attention, Jha noted that spike-protein mutations are not uncommon among variants, suggesting the sensational moniker is overblown; meanwhile, the rise in India of another variant, known as B.1.1.7 (which was first detected in the UK, is believed to be more transmissible, and is now dominant in the US and Europe) is probably a “major” factor in India’s plight.
What we knew about the virus last year is still true, according to Jha: Mask-wearing “dramatically” reduces spread, which can happen outdoors when people are packed together, and asymptomatic transmission is a big risk. India, he suggested, has gambled on those fronts.
The Weeks Ahead Could Be Even Worse
Things will almost certainly get much worse, according to Jha, who pointed to a high rate of daily positive Covid-19 tests in New Delhi, especially. At more than seven times the US seven-day average, that indicates to Jha that India’s testing isn’t capturing the full extent of Covid-19’s spread. “It will be many, many weeks of things likely getting meaningfully worse,” Jha suggested.
- Fareed Global Briefing, CNN
The stats: India
Total cases: 17.6M
Recovered: 14.6M
Deaths: 198K
Our hearts and prayers are with the Indians.
[attachment=0]India Covid-19 surge.png[/attachment]
The current 2nd-wave Covid-19 situation in India is really dire. India has recorded a huge surge in infection rates and deaths in the past days that the whole nation (and world) is shaking and trembling with fear.
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzpMToEIFO0[/video]
What do you think?
[quote]
All Eyes on India
As Guardian South Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen detailed on Sunday’s GPS, India is being devastated by a horrific wave of Covid-19, mere months after it was noted as an odd exception to the global chaos, having suffered relatively few cases and deaths through the winter.
India’s rapid deterioration is now attracting global concern. “[W]ith reports of people dying in the streets outside overwhelmed hospitals running short of oxygen, India today perhaps most closely resembles the worst-case scenarios painted when the virus was identified 16 months ago,” the Financial Times editorial board observes. In a dispatch for The New York Times, Jeffrey Gettleman writes, “Crematories are so full of bodies, it’s as if a war just happened. … India is now recording more infections per day—as many as 350,000—than any other country has since the pandemic began, and that’s just the official number, which most experts think is a vast underestimation.” The UK “has begun sending ventilators and oxygen concentrator devices,” the BBC reports, and the US has lifted a ban on the export of raw materials for vaccines and will send other supplies, such as protective equipment and rapid tests.
How did India get here? In a panel discussion hosted by Brown University’s Center for Contemporary South Asia, public-health dean Dr. Ashish Jha recounted a low point of daily new infections in India of fewer than 10,000 on Feb. 11; when that figure rose to around 18,000 roughly two weeks later, the near doubling was worrisome, but the low total made it “easy to ignore.” Since then, the country has taken a lax approach, especially to large, outdoor gatherings.
“We’ve seen the political rallies, we’ve seen the Kumbh Mela”—a massive Hindu religious gathering on the banks of the Ganges—“we’ve seen packed stadiums with cricket matches and movie halls, all the things that one cannot afford to do in the middle of a global pandemic,” Jha said. While a so-called “double mutant” Covid-19 variant has drawn attention, Jha noted that spike-protein mutations are not uncommon among variants, suggesting the sensational moniker is overblown; meanwhile, the rise in India of another variant, known as B.1.1.7 (which was first detected in the UK, is believed to be more transmissible, and is now dominant in the US and Europe) is probably a “major” factor in India’s plight.
What we knew about the virus last year is still true, according to Jha: Mask-wearing “dramatically” reduces spread, which can happen outdoors when people are packed together, and asymptomatic transmission is a big risk. India, he suggested, has gambled on those fronts.
The Weeks Ahead Could Be Even Worse
Things will almost certainly get much worse, according to Jha, who pointed to a high rate of daily positive Covid-19 tests in New Delhi, especially. At more than seven times the US seven-day average, that indicates to Jha that India’s testing isn’t capturing the full extent of Covid-19’s spread. “It will be many, many weeks of things likely getting meaningfully worse,” Jha suggested.
[/quote]
- Fareed Global Briefing, CNN
The stats: India
Total cases: 17.6M
Recovered: 14.6M
Deaths: 198K
Our hearts and prayers are with the Indians.
