By Sushil Kutty
The ‘New Delhi’ dateline is grim reading. Scores of Covid-19 deaths jostling with scarce numbers of hospital beds all over the country. Government hospitals are choc-a-bloc with Covid patients and private hospitals are pushing up the asking price for a bed. Then, there’s the “PPE con!” A PPE costs Rs 400 per piece for a hospital but the patient’s family is condemned to shell out thousands in hard cash. That, or there’s a world outside, death whistles! Yes, the avarice of the human being has never reaped more than in these days of the coronavirus.
Fictional recluse and island-in-himself (social distancing practitioner?) Robinson Crusoe would rue his fate if he’s freed from “island captivity” today and dropped off the coast of Malabar or Mumbai. No hospital bed would be available and his vulnerability to the coronavirus would spell imminent death. That, when there’s no Man Friday to nurse him back to health in the Covid-19 world. Robinson Crusoe and the Tom Hanks character in the movie ‘Castaway’ were probably the first “people” to be condemned to self-quarantine and rebel against social distancing and lockdown. The two had no say in their incarceration.
But Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had more than a say. Suspecting that he might have caught the virus, Kejriwal sought “self-isolation” but tested coronavirus negative. Good for Delhi. Otherwise, he would have grabbed a hospital bed from a less privileged Delhi citizen. The crisis of hospital beds is bound to get potentially worse everywhere. Kejriwal’s deputy Manish Sisodia is on record that by July-end, Delhi would need 30,000 beds more than the 9000 or so now in service. Covid-19 cases will surpass half a million in a month from now.
Only the other week, a pregnant woman was killed by Covid-19 after being driven round in circles in Delhi in search of a hospital with a bed to spare. Yes, these are very scary and dire days in Delhi. And in Mumbai. And in Ahmedabad. And in Chennai… India is hurtling to top spot in coronavirus numbers. As of June 11, India had overtaken Spain for fifth spot and was destined to beat Britain to fourth place. The total coronavirus positive cases in India were over 2.8 lakh and the doubling rate was down to less than 15 days.
Robinson Crusoe, if he was not a fictional character, would have died in the streets of Mumbai from Covid-19 though he might have survived if dropped off the coast of Malabar, which falls in a state that has hospital beds to spare. Kejriwal is angry that Modi did not listen to him and allowed international and domestic flights to land in Delhi. He says Delhi and Mumbai are reaping Covid-19 because of “foreign-returned” at airports. But, then, Kerala’s airports are no less “busy.” What politicians forget is that coronavirus in India boils down to a hospital bed and the prognosis on that outlook looks very bleak every which way you look at it.
And this, as India and the majority of countries are “opening up” their economies. The lockdowns, did they work their magic? Debates rage across the world but it looks like more people dislike lockdowns than love them. Most British hate lockdown, insisting that they were “freer” during the World War II German Luftwaffe blitzkrieg, forgetting that those days Florence Nightingale did not have to battle an invisible killer virus. Compared to the British, the Aussies and the Kiwis praise the ‘strict lockdown’ imposed in Australia and New Zealand. On June 10, Australia had only 104 corona-positive cases and New Zealand announced that it had “nil”, “completely Covid-free!”
For India to be declared Covid-free will take some time. After two-and-a-half months of lockdowns – 1:0 to 4:0 – India is in the ‘Unlock 1:0’ phase. But clever as the Modi Government was to keep “testing” to a low compared to India’s population, the hiatus is catching up on him and his administration. From all indicators (positive cases to Covid-19 death), India looks like she is on her way to notch up stupendously big corona numbers. Disaster-delayed is no way to push up ratings. India requires a vaccine and a Covid-19 cure, or help her God!
That being said, it’s not just politicians and political parties and governments (state and Centre) that are making things-coronavirus difficult. Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces criticism for hasty lockdowns and for not thinking of the plight of migrant workers hit by the lockdowns, but the MWs haven’t done any good for themselves and for others by taking the virus “home” to villages everywhere. The Indian citizen it appears is for the most part lax and lackadaisical, hardly bothered about keeping safe family and friends, and community.
With India reporting nearly 10,000 infections daily and deaths numbering over 8000 on last count, questions are being asked. And amidst all these, Arvind Kejriwal is getting flak because Delhi has only so many beds and not more. And Manish Sisodia says the number of Covid-19 patients in Delhi will cross the half a million mark. From where will Arvind Kejriwal get the beds to bed the rising number of the national capital’s Covid-19? That’s the leading question for AAP-ka Delhi Government.
The fact is, the average Indian’s understanding of the coronavirus is scant and the virus’s deadly intent is largely not understood. So much so, the common Indian is dismissive of all measures to contain the coronavirus. His ill-concealed contempt for social distancing and his cavalier treatment of the facemask have exacted revenge from the coronavirus, which is not in a mood to step out of the arena. The coronavirus is by far a more accomplished gladiator than the Indian bull in a China shop. But then, the Indian is not alone in his contempt and hubris. A North Carolina court the other day banned car racing at a local racing pit because the North Carolina-ian will not stand apart to be counted! (IPA Service)
Modi Is Talking Big Ignoring The Harsh Ground Realities 