Our muddled response to the covid resurgence
PremiumReports of massive Indian crowds have revived the question of whether we’re vulnerable to our own behaviour as much as coronavirus. Needed: Cohesion based on a scientific temper
We Indians, like Americans, or citizens of any nation with dreams of greatness, tend to think of ourselves as exceptional. Boasts of our unique resistance to Sars-CoV-2 were exposed as hollow fairly early in the pandemic, but as images emerge of throngs at Gangetic ghats and multitudes at election rallies, the question of what marks us out has been turned on its head. Is there something particular about our vulnerability? What explains such casual behaviour amid a rising wave of infections? In the 24 hours until Thursday morning, our country reported more than 2,00,000 new cases and over 1,000 covid deaths. While the chart’s ascent is sharper than last year’s, the groundswell that is visible in some of our most populous regions is not of caution, but of indifference. This, even as healthcare facilities get overwhelmed in our worst-hit urban centres, forcing some states to impose lockdowns that are called anything but. It is clear that this year’s wave caught public health officials by surprise. What isn’t is why our approach to the danger has lost coherence even on elementary safety protocols. How did we reach this sorry situation?
One big difference today from the pandemic’s outbreak back in March 2020, when our Prime Minister spelt out the country’s response, is the devolution since of authority to state administrations on tackling the crisis. On paper, this allows greater responsiveness, especially vis-a-vis local conditions, and some of its benefits have been observable. But decentralization also seems to have enlarged state-level politics as a factor of influence. Poll-bound states have been theatres of high-decibel populism, of late, with all the political pathologies of pre-covid times on display. In this paradigm, crowds at public rallies serve as shows of strength that have a signalling role in staring down opponents and their ground forces. When matters of faith are invoked by public figures, then age-old beliefs can complicate the picture. The ongoing Kumbh Mela in Uttarakhand saw an estimated 1 million-plus devotees gather at the Ganga’s banks in the town of Haridwar for an auspicious dip on Wednesday, their devotion hailed by the state’s chief minister as protection enough. Evidence of supernatural intervention to protect this super-spreader event, though, has not shown up in the area’s covid tests, which are reporting a spurt of contagion.
TRENDING STORIESSee All
Premium NEET PG 2021 exams postponed amid Covid-19 surge, new date to be decided later
2 min read . 07:05 PM IST
Premium NPS maximum age to be hiked to 70, guaranteed return product proposed by PFRDA
2 min read . 01:07 PM IST
It is not as if words of reproach for weak observance of safety norms haven’t been articulated by top leaders of the country. They have. Their utility, unfortunately, seems to be on a downward curve, a phenomenon that could perhaps be attributed to a mix of corona fatigue and fatalism across the country. The sort of snappy coinages that once showed a capacity to galvanize action also appear to be losing appeal. This week’s Tika Utsav, a jab-fest that was supposed to enthuse vaccinations, failed to accelerate our state-run immunization drive. Reports suggest it stumbled on a combination of vaccine inadequacy and hesitancy. Both these problems had been crying out for redressal, but health authorities at the Centre attempted to gloss them over, instead of taking them up as challenges to be faced squarely. Much has gone wrong in how we have dealt with our sudden turn of circumstances. Yet, amends can always be made. We need, above all, a renewed national resolve. And for that, we need cohesion based on a scientific temper.
Click here to read the Mint ePaperMint is now on Telegram. Join Mint channel in your Telegram and stay updated with the latest business news.