India's COVID Conundrum continued
This post is a followup from my previous post - COVID in India. My trip to India (Mumbai area) got extended by an additional 2 weeks since I got infected with the virus (and have recovered since). On the positive side I have additional blogging material.
2nd COVID peak reaction
Unfortunately cases in India have escalated to a second major peak. Although many do take the virus seriously, messaging and execution against it has been mixed. Now as part of the reaction to this wave, changes are being made.
National
Given the new rise in cases, top-level government messaging is now again becoming very serious. It does take courage to not hide numbers and mask facts about cases and India is being transparent about cases.
The print and TV news is spending a huge amount of time and meaningful reporting on this.
State of Maharashtra
In the state of Maharashtra which includes Mumbai, there are now local lockdowns in effect. This includes closing businesses over the weekend other than essential services and other measures to reduce people from moving out.
At the same time, extensive testing is being done for detection of real cases. Local civic officials and public healthcare officials are using Rapid Antigen Tests which take around 30 mins for results. The cost per test was ₹10 ($0.13) or even free.
As the number of cases is rising, hospital services for those severely affected are not easily available. Existing hospital capacity is being converted to treat the new COVID patients as well. There is a shortage of critical medicines which is also being sorted out. However the situation is dire currently and various teams are scaling up to solve the challenge. Read the interview by Dr Sanjay Lalwani, medical director of the Pune's Bharti Vidyapeeth hospital and medical college for more on the current situation.
The local officials proactively track patients with cases. Daily phone calls are made to the patients who test positive asking about how they are doing and if additional assistance is needed. Phone number information and identification information is mandatory during testing.
Local communities
Local communities and buildings are also adapting. WhatsApp groups are discussing cases that happen in a building are common along with measures taken to reduce further spread. Ultimately it is individual action which will help the most with reduction of the spread. Vaccination is going on at a breathtaking speed but the scale of the country is immense and it will take a major part of the year to get through the critical phase of this pandemic.
Long term impact
The long term impact of the COVID pandemic is massive. Bloomberg has recently published an article explaining poverty- “Millions are tumbling out of the global middle class in historic setback”. The developing world has been improving over the past few decades and this will be a blip in progress.
However there is always a silver lining to any situation including this one. Be it revisiting health priorities or just appreciating life. Countries like the US, Israel are quickly moving to the new normal and so will the rest of the world.
Addendum
Added MH #BreakTheChain link
Added interview link by Dr Sanjay Lalwani