Mishandling the Pandemic

 

 

 

 

Mishandling the Pandemic

The WHO declared the Covid-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020.  As on 24 April 2021, more than 145 million cases and 3.08 million deaths were reported across the globe. The cases in Indian crossed 16.6 million with more than 2 lakh deaths.  As on April 25, close to 3.5 lakh cases were reported in India- the highest in a single day- the national average in cases rising to 18.4 % from 4.2 % a month ago. Bhramar Mukherjee, Professor of Epidemiology at University of Michigan, warns there will be 8-10 lakh cases and 4500 deaths a day in India by mid-May.

In the absence of transparency, these questions remain unanswered:

(a)Who are the people ‘tested positive’ in terms of age, health background and the covid symptoms, and how are these symptoms different from other diseases? (b) What is the medication given to them and how is it different from the one given prior to the pandemic? (c) Why is the appropriate covid behavior applied only to ordinary people and not to political and election rallies and religious congregations? (d) How does one explain that most of the people ‘tested positive’ are from the gated societies and high rise buildings, as the BMC says, and not from the chawls and slum areas, where more than half Mumbai’s population lives, and where people cannot observe the covid norms- like washing hands frequently and keeping the physical distance? And (e) how do we understand the people wearing mask and confined to their homes mostly  testing ‘ positive’ and getting admitted to hospitals?

We are witnessing an unprecedented national health crisis with the surge in covid cases. In less than a week we saw the spike of more than 15 lakh, much worse than our immediate neighbors- Nepal, Bhutan Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan-which are less endowed.  Fearing the lockdown, the migrant workers in Mumbai and Delhi etc .have started leaving for their native villages. The situation is back to square one. The government’s economic package was an event management rather than offering any substantial benefit to the vulnerable.  

The pandemic is mishandled. There is no transparency and accountability, with the government spokesmen pulling political punches against the opposition for questioning the government’s handling of the pandemic. Parakala Prabhakar (spouse of the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman) says, “the country became numb from suffering”, when confronted with a human tragedy. After the unilateral,arbitrary and unprepared lockdown last year, no serious efforts were made to invest in the public health system and improve the infrastructure. Only little more than 19000 ventilators, 8000 ICU beds and 94000 oxygen-supported beds were added since last April. The government managed to ride over the anger over the lakhs of migrant workers walking hundreds of miles without food and water due to this numbing. As he says, “Prime Minister’s popularity, political capital, communication skills seem to have indemnified him from the impact of ineptitude,incompetent and heartlessness of his government..he escaped accountability...the numbing will not lost forever…the humane, compassionate governance, transparency, accountability and empathy, they lost… only they can earn leaders a secure and respectable place in a nation’s history… Popularity, political capital have a habit of running out without giving notice.”

The government has not tapped the vast expertise available in the country. The Union government should immediately call an all party meeting to build a national consensus; summon the experts from within and outside the government, take honest inputs to find out the cause and effect of the spike and the ways and means to contain the spread of virus. Then publish a gist of the decisions and release the true data with regard to ’positive cases’ and deaths caused by the corona , to win the confidence of the people. Presently, the people are confused, scared and worried that they could be the next victim of the virus.  Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla says, “the constant updates and non-stop news is making many people anxious...the more we talk about the virus, the more it scares the people. A lot of them out of anxiety feel breathless. I don’t know if the scare is contributing and compounding the problem.”

The government’s vaccination policy is misconceived. The government was more interested in exporting the vaccine to foreign countries, to gain cheap publicity, ignoring our own requirement.  If the government believes the vaccination is a way to contain the spread of virus, then it must work out a national vaccination policy by consulting the stake holders- the opposition parties and the state governments. The pricing policy of vaccine is arbitrary and discriminatory. On April 21, the Selum Institute of India, which manufactures Covishield, announced three rate slaps for vaccine: Rs.150 for the Central Government, Rs.400 for the State governments and Rs.600 for private hospitals.  And on April 25, the manufacturers of Covaxin Bharat Biotech has announced doubling the price for private hospitals-Rs.1200 per vaccine.  At a time when the nation is in the grip of a health crisis- of life and death- how can the Government permit such brazen profiteering from people’s misery? How can the same vaccine manufacturing companies have three different prices? The poor and the vulnerable  simply cannot afford these prices. It is the obligation of the government to make the vaccine available freely for all age groups, both in public and private hospitals,since the corona virus  has created a national health emergency. 

The people are dying due to shortage of oxygen even in established big hospitals. And due to shortage of beds patients are turned down, with many of them in the national capital sleeping on the footpaths and dead bodies piling up for want of place to cremate. It is a very disgraceful situation.  And if the situation is not remedied immediately, we are likely to witness a large number of people being infected and dying without access to vaccines, oxygen cylinders, ventilators, ICU beds and anti-viral drugs. This shows the callousness, criminal negligence and failure of the Union and State governments. The Centre and Sates should immediately invest in oxygen plants to meet the shortage and save human lives. Alarmed by the rapid surge in cases and deaths, many countries have cancelled the flights to and from India, reflecting badly on the self-congratulatory government and its premature celebration of winning the war against the covid.

And a piece of advice to parents:  take the covid situation as a blessing in disguise. Children are going through serious stress and strain and mental trauma. With the exams now being cancelled and the students promoted to next class, the parents should have a sigh of relief.  The lockdown has impacted the pre-school kids and school and college going children, like never before. They need succour which parents can provide.  Dr.Samir Dalwai of New Horizons Child Development Centre says it is very good opportunity for parents as they can give more time to the children, “they can read stories.” Shivaji was credited to have developed the courage to be adventurous and face adversity from the stories that his mother Jijamata told him in his childhood.

Instead of all the time worrying about the corona virus, and the children’s studies and their future, the parents should adapt a new approach, for a change, during these troubled times. They must encourage their children to redirect their energy towards more constructive and productive activities: developing new hobbies like reading news papers and books to improve their general awareness; reading stories of heroes who made history, their autobiographies and biographies, to draw inspiration and  lessons in facing difficulties and adversities in life with a calm and positive frame of mind. The parents are doing more harm to children by making everything ready made for them.

Our present education system does not ensure holistic development of a child’s personality. It gives over emphasis on courses in IT, Commerce, Engineering and the like. There is much wider world outside these fields. Let our children develop interest in issues concerning the society and the state and broaden their mental horizon, to enable them to confront the hard realities of life.