Jayanti Ravi: ‘Second wave hit suddenly, not much epidemic intelligence’

While the Gujarat government was prepared to face the first wave of Covid-19, there was no “epidemic intelligence” about the second wave, said outgoing state principal secretary, health and family welfare, Jayanti Ravi, who will join as secretary, Auroville Foundation in Tamil Nadu after a four-year stint in the health department.

In an interview to The Indian Express, Ravi said, “The second (wave) hit us all of a sudden and there was not much of an epidemic intelligence from any corner — not only from within Gujarat but nationally… and it was almost nine times of the curve (of the first wave, of daily new cases of Covid-19).”

As compared to that during the first wave Gujarat had some “lead time” and was ready with the 1,200-bed Ahmedabad civil hospital, although there was a problem of staff. “We had doctors and nurses but suddenly when the numbers go up, you need more nurses, you need more janitors also. We tried our best to get as many as we could but there were some areas where people were not willing to join because of the taboo and stigma related to Covid-19,” said Ravi.

The Gujarat High Court is hearing two suo motu petitions registered during the two waves, during which it issued stern directives to the government to put systems, data and policies in place. Ravi, on a directive from the court, filed affidavits on the management of the pandemic.

Asked why the death registrations were not being made public for the Covid-19 years, Ravi said, “That data will also be made available at the suitable time… It is happening on a computerised platform, so there is no way that some deaths will go unreported, it’s just that it will take some time. Some may report it immediately, some after three months, some others after six months.”