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Disaster has struck in India. The entire country has been terrorized by a second wave of coronavirus infections that’s already claimed tens of thousands of lives. This horrifying situation developed after restrictions relaxed across the country and people started to disregard public health policies. Dr. K. Senthil, a urologist from Tamil Nadu, commented that “people became so complacent, acting as if the virus had vanished which was absurd.” He witnessed wedding parties, hordes of maskless shoppers, and large-scale political rallies. To make things worse, an alarmingly infectious mutant variant has spread across the subcontinent. This series of unfortunate events has caused a monstrous outbreak in coronavirus infections, and things are only getting worse.
Over the weekend, India reached a total of fifteen million cases, placing it second-highest in the world for COVID-19 cases (behind the United States). The South Asian country has also reached other grim milestones—there are now over two hundred thousand new cases and one thousand deaths every day. Most of the new COVID-19 infections are concentrated in the southern and western regions of India, which include Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
The unprecedented rise in cases has drained many of India’s most-needed resources. Several states are reporting severe shortages of vaccine doses and the closure of hundreds of vaccination centers. The former director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research stated that one of the key reasons behind this shortage was the lack of raw materials needed to produce the vaccine. India has the facilities and technology to make more doses but needs to import materials from other countries.
As the situation gets more dire, many hospitals in India are experiencing a shortage of intensive care resources and hospital beds. Maharashtra’s Health Minister announced that Mumbai has already filled up 97% of its intensive care hospital beds. In addition, Aljazeera reports that “the state’s daily oxygen usage has touched 1,500 metric tonnes, according to Health Minister Rajesh Tope. This is much more than its daily production of 1,250 tonnes.” The lack of oxygen support and other important medical supplies will lead to increased mortality rates in the future, since hospitals will no longer be able to alleviate the dangerous symptoms of severe COVID-19 cases. India is facing an incredibly perilous medical crisis, and the effects aren’t just limited to health and safety.
Maharashtra’s Health Minister announced that Mumbai has already filled up 97% of its intensive care hospital beds.
Due to the incredible increase in COVID-19 cases, many fear the governmental and circumstantial changes that will take place. Schools in India re-opened in February, 2021, just to close a month and a half later, causing many to fear their children would continue to have difficulty learning in a setting that’s far from normal. Students who lack access to resources for virtual school, or can’t concentrate online, will have essentially missed more than one year of quality education.
India’s second wave of COVID-19 also has a significant global impact. The rise in cases worries many countries around the world because India is a key part of COVAX, an international organization that helps provide vaccines to poorer countries. The Serum Institute of India is the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines, and the high demand for vaccinations in India means that it won’t be able to provide doses to nations in need. This could prove to be catastrophic to the countries that are depending on COVAX for medical aid.
As the pandemic becomes more dangerous in India, travel plans become more questionable. The increased risk of getting the Indian variant has caused many to cancel their flights for safety reasons. For example, many Asian students are stranded in America, away from their families and all by themselves, because they fear exposing themselves or their family to the virus. It’s easy to worry about your family when situations are exponentially getting worse and you don’t know the specific circumstances; this mixed with all the other concerns have increased anxiety in U.S. adults. In times like these, it’s important to remember that COVID-19 patients aren’t the only victims of this pandemic—everyone’s affected by the stress and mental burden of these trying times.
The new wave of COVID-19 in India is having a tremendous impact on the nation and its people. The number of new cases is rising faster than ever and the resources needed to deal with the crisis are nowhere to be found. With the way things are going, hundreds of thousands of lives will soon be in jeopardy. The simple truth is that India is not going to be able to deal with this crisis without outside help. If we want to avoid a catastrophic loss of human life, people from around the world will have to find it in their hearts to send aid to those who need it most.
