The corona pandemic: Are we the victims of irrational policy decisions?

 

The corona pandemic: Are we the victims of irrational policy decisions?

 The article Why Pandemic Policy Making Still Short of Science? This is by design, to promote agendas ranging from nationalism to commercial interests by Professor Anand Krishnan at the Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, in The Time of India, January 3, 2022, questions the very premises of policy decisions, devoid of rational thinking, imagination and visionary leadership.

 

A gist of the article:

 

"Given that this pandemic came at a time of unprecedented progress in science and technology, one expected science and rationality to form the core of most, if not all, decisions that were taken... Scrubbing of home furniture and doors was advised by governments in early 2020 as if the virus was entering homes through windows and doors by air and settling on furniture... We have such porous inter-state borders that testing before entering one state from another is completely meaningless and places unnecessary burden on travelers…All Airports are choc-a-bloc full of people with no social distancing, yet one continuously hears announcements asking people to maintain social distancing... From the imposition of night curfew for Omicron to curtailing public transport, while allowing political rallies to continue, too many decisions look unsupported by science…Does ignoring science in policy decisions occur by design or default?...

 

Policy makers are ignoring science… Increasing nationalism and the rise of the 'exceptionalism' principle assume that we are different from others and rules of others and therefore, rules of others do not apply to us, while science believes in universal rules…the unquestioning promotion of ‘ancient science’…while opinions may genuinely differ on the morale-boosting impact of banging thalis and lighting lamps, justifications using Vedic sciences go too far. Increase in competitive populism and shrillness of politics is leading to silly inter-state and inter-country travel rules. Each leader wants to be seen as more ‘tough and decisive’ than the other…debates on TV and social media rely less on evidence and more on decibels...Commercial interests can further muddy the waters by planting questionable evidence and using money power to push it. Today, more and more science is being done in the private sector, with the results thus becoming private not public goods…We need to mandate transparent policy development mechanisms which also allow public scrutiny before and after a decision. An independent body to scrutinize every policy decision and its evidence base and put this in the public domain is needed…" 

 

The reasons why managing the corona pandemic is not based on informed decisions:

First, it is not understood, right from the announcement of outbreak of the pandemic two years ago, how the symptoms of corona are different from the common cold, flue, sore throat etc. that our family doctors used to treat.  Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, WHO, said in an interview to NDTV that it is a challenge to differentiate between common cold, flue and Omicron. According to Dr.Mala Kaneria,Consultant,Deartment of Infectious Diseases at Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai, "clinically, it is difficult to distinguish between viral fever due to other viruses and Covid." And how is the treatment for corona different from the treatment for other  infections?

Second, while declaring the ‘tested positive’ cases and the ‘deaths’ for corona, no information is given with regard to its variants and how their symptoms differ from one another, the age and the health background of the patients. We are asked to accept what is told to us with no rational explanation offered. Third, why are the 'asymptomatic’ people declared 'tested positive' and quarantined? According to Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner, Mumbai, out of 8082 cases reported on 3 January,90 per cent were ‘asymptomatic’. All this is resulting in inflating the numbers, and accounting for the 'surge' in corona cases. It is, therefore, imperative to reconsider the modus operandi adapted for 'testing' and 'treating'.. 

Fourth, the manner in which the pandemic is handled, which we are unable to comprehend, there is an implicit anxiety that you may be the next to be ‘tested positive’ and hospitalised, no matter how much care you take of your health, eat-balanced healthy food, engage in physical activity and exercise, creating panic and fear among people

 

Fifth, if the 'covid appropriate behaviour’- wearing mask, washing hands frequently and keeping physical distancing- is supposed to protect against the virus infection, then why this is not applied at the religious congregations and political rallies where lacks of people assemble, neither wearing the mask nor the social distancing is observed? Do these norms apply only for the common people, causing them harassment and suffering? And with the poor infrastructure and crumbling health system in countryside, if the ‘tests’ are carried there, the way they are done in metros and urban areas, a huge chunk of population could find ‘tested positive’ requiring hospitalisation.

 

Sixth, the 'covid appropriate behaviour' that the governments insist on defies the logic, considering the ground reality. In a mega city like Mumbai, with high density population of nearly 14 million, about 60 per cent people live in slums and chawls, with common toilets and no regular tap water. In the Asia’s largest-congested slum settlement- Dharavi in Mumbai that houses 8-lakh people in just 2-3 sq km area- some 6-8 persons live in a crammed single room, ‘social distancing’ going for a toss, forget washing hands frequently. And yet, the Dharavi is the least affected and the safest locality in Mumbai, where, according to the BMC, a staggering 92 per cent cases are reported from high-rising buildings and affluent sections.

 

Finally, the vaccine is invented to provide immunity against the corona. However, it is proved ineffective in protecting against the infection. Yet insisting on everyone getting vaccinated is beyond comprehension. The argument now advanced that the omicron is 'mild'  and that the vaccination prevents severe infection and hospitalization is not based on any conclusive  evidence. The WHO says that the omicron is not 'mild.'   And with most of the ‘fully vaccinated’ people getting infected by corona, the Western countries, like America, are now changing the goal post and reconsidering the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’, asking the people to get a third booster dose, on the ground that the vaccine effect lasts only for 3-6 months. According to Soumya Swaminathan, the booster dose would only prolong the corona pandemic since due to the vaccine divide, many poor countries do not have access to the vaccine. They are neglected and ignored. It looks the corona affects only the developed countries and rich people and the vaccine is meant for them. This shows how the commercial interests of pharmaceutical companies override the lager global interest.

 

Instead of vaccination, what perhaps could be justified is people wearing mask properly when they venture out of their homes. Many experts say that the corona infection could be contained by people wearing mask. Let the corona run its full course, with people  learning to live with the virus and leading normal life and battling it out.

 

There is no end in sight of the corona pandemic. And the ‘third wave’ and the knee-jerk panic reaction and off-and-on imposing lockdowns and curfews, at the very first sign of questionable  'spike', without rationalizing their effect, and the strict restrictions on travels and people's movements and their activities-all this has unnerved and unsettled the people, facing a bleak, insecure and uncertain future, as the New Year begins, while the corona gets a fresh lease of life. It looks we are stuck in a perpetual state of emergency.  Are we the victims of irrational policy decisions?

We have not recovered from the most severe ill-informed country-wide lockdown, without any warning and prior notice- ever known in history- clamped down by Narendra Modi on 24 March, 2020, lasting for more than two months, that had devastated the nation of 1.3 billion people, uprooting the lives of  millions of daily wage earners and migrant workers.