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India COVID Breaks Record 05/07 06:41
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced growing pressure Friday to impose
a strict nationwide lockdown, despite the economic pain it will exact, as a
startling surge in coronavirus cases that has pummeled the country's health
system shows no signs of abating.
NEW DELHI (AP) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced growing pressure
Friday to impose a strict nationwide lockdown, despite the economic pain it
will exact, as a startling surge in coronavirus cases that has pummeled the
country's health system shows no signs of abating.
Many medical experts, opposition leaders and even Supreme Court judges are
calling for national restrictions, arguing that a patchwork of state rules is
insufficient to quell the rise in infections.
Indian television stations broadcast images of patients lying on stretchers
outside hospitals waiting to be admitted, with hospital beds and critical
oxygen in short supply. People infected with COVID-19 in villages are being
treated in makeshift outdoor clinics, with IV drips hanging from trees.
As deaths soar, crematoriums and burial grounds have been swamped with
bodies, and relatives often wait hours to perform the last rites for their
loved ones.
The situation is so dramatic that among those calling for a strict lockdown
are merchants who know their businesses will be affected but see no other way
out.
"Only if our health is good, will we be able to earn," said Aruna Ramjee, a
florist in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru. "The lockdown will help
everyone, and coronavirus spread will also come down."
The alarming picture has gripped the world's attention, just as many
developed countries are seeing vaccinations drive down infections and are
beginning to open up. India's surge has served as a warning to other countries
with fragile health systems --- and also has weighed heavily on global efforts
to end the pandemic since the country is a major vaccine producer but has been
forced to delay exports of shots.
Infections have swelled in India since February in a disastrous turn blamed
on more contagious variants as well as government decisions to allow massive
crowds to gather for religious festivals and political rallies. On Friday India
reported a new daily record of 414,188 confirmed cases and 3,915 additional
deaths. The official daily death count has stayed over 3,000 for the past 10
days.
That brings the total to more than 21.4 million COVID-19 infections and over
234,000 deaths. Experts say even those dramatic tolls are undercounts.
Over the past month, nearly a dozen of India's 28 federal states have
announced some restrictions, but they fall short of a nationwide lockdown
imposed last year that experts credit with helping to contain the virus for a
time. Those measures, which lasted two months, included stay-at-home orders, a
ban on international and domestic flights and a suspension of passenger service
on the nation's extensive rail system.
The government provided free wheat, rice and lentils to the poorest for
nearly a year and also small cash payments, while Modi also vowed an economic
relief package of more than $260 billion. But the lockdown, imposed on four
hours' notice, also stranded tens of millions of migrant workers who were left
jobless and fled to villages, with many dying along the way.
The national restrictions caused the economy to contract by a staggering 23%
in the second quarter last year, though a strong recovery was under way before
infections skyrocketed recently.
Some who remember last year's ordeal remain against a full lockdown.
"If I had to choose between dying of the virus and dying of hunger, I would
choose the virus," said Shyam Mishra, a construction worker who was already
forced to change jobs and start selling vegetables when a lockdown was imposed
on the capital, New Delhi.
Modi has so far left the responsibility for fighting the virus in this
current surge to poorly equipped state governments and faced accusations of
doing too little. His government has countered that it is doing everything it
can, amid a "once-in-a-century crisis."
Amid a shortage of oxygen, the Supreme Court has stepped in. It ordered the
federal government to increase the supply of medical oxygen to New Delhi after
12 COVID-19 patients died last week after a hospital ran out of supplies for 80
minutes.
Three justices called on the government this week to impose a lockdown,
including a ban on mass gatherings, in the "interest of public welfare."
Dr. Randeep Guleria, a government health expert, said he believes that a
total lockdown is needed like last year, especially in areas where more than
10% of those tested have contracted COVID-19.
Rahul Gandhi, an opposition Congress party leader, in a letter to Modi on
Friday, also demanded a total lockdown and government support to feed the poor,
warning "the human cost will result in many more tragic consequences for our
people."
As the world watches India with alarm, some outside of its borders have
joined the calls. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious disease
expert, suggested that a complete shutdown in India may be needed for two to
four weeks.
"As soon as the cases start coming down, you can vaccinate more people and
get ahead of the trajectory of the outbreak of the pandemic," Fauci said in an
interview with the Indian news channel CNN News18 on Thursday.
Still, Modi's policy of selected lockdowns is supported by some experts,
including Vineeta Bal, a scientist at the National Institute of Immunology. She
said different states have different needs, and local particularities need to
be taken into account for any policy to work.
In most instances, in places where health infrastructure and expertise are
good, localized restrictions at the level of a state, or even a district, are a
better way to curb the spread of infections, said Bal. "A centrally mandated
lockdown will just be inappropriate," she said.
Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India, a
public-private consultancy, acknowledged that the intensity of the pandemic was
different in each state, but said a "coordinated countrywide strategy" was
still needed.
According to Reddy, decisions need to be based on local conditions but
should be closely coordinated, "like an orchestra which plays the same sheet
music but with different instruments."
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