The outbreak of the second wave of coronavirus has created havoc in India. No one could forecast the vehemence of this new wave. It was unpredictable and no one could have thought of the degree of destruction it would cause. The government has some duty towards the citizens. It was well-aware of the innumerable Covid deaths around the world and took vigilant steps during the outbreak of first wave, which somehow controlled the spread.
Without any mistake, the government was quick in accepting an appreciation for it as well. But you don’t win the race until you cross the final line. Just when they though Covid is over in India, the second wave took us all down. Had the government done its work appropriately, such as situation wouldn’t have arrived.
People are dying not due to the virus, but due to lack of oxygen in hospitals. Families of many patients are wandering in search of oxygen cylinders. When they were unable to find them from hospitals, they ended up buying it in black, sometime even from fraudsters. Those who couldn’t afford to pay the inflated price could do nothing but wait for their loved one’s death. Even after losing them, the family had to stand in long queues at cremation centres.
Who shall come at the forefront while facing apprehensions? In Delhi, many deaths occurred due to the lack of cooperation between the Centre and State governments. They kept playing blame-games, justifying themselves to the other. The High Court had to intervene to remind them of their duties.
There are two mutants of the coronavirus prevalent in Delhi — one is UK’s mutant and several strains with double mutations. And the reason behind its uncontrollable spread is yet to be discovered. It is being said that the present situation is not only due to the unawareness of the government. The reasons could be the nature of the mutants, public behaviour, system failure and many more.
But government intervention was indispensable; they need to aware people from time to time about the virus. Instead, what they did was announce their win over the pandemic. They carried on with their rallies; mobilised people for support and promoted religious gatherings.
In the first wave, we were still the audience, watching deaths from around the world on our TVs and feeling secure. But this time, when the rest of the world is back on its feet, we have become victim to the virus and they are are with full back up we are the victims, and they are watching.
When this national catastrophe got the world’s attention, many countries assured their support to India. Among them are France, the UAE, the US and other European nations, along with several neighbouring countries, which have committed to providing India medical and pharmaceutical assistance to combat the unprecedented rise in its Covid-19 cases.
The government is trying to hide real numbers during Covid in order to hide its failure. According to some veteran scientists, we need to show actual numbers to prepare for the future. According to them, this is not the last virus, we are surrounded by millions of threats like Covid that are inactive for the time being, but we should not take this for granted and work on possible threats.