Chennai

This statistic puts India in the unenviable podium of the top three nations that have breached the count of a million cases. The country took a little over three and a half months – 110 days specifically to go from 1,000 cases to 1 million cases. The other two nations are the US – which breached this count in a shocking 49 days, followed by Brazil which did so in 91 days. If one considers that it just about took three days between July 13 and July 16 to go from 9 lakh cases to a million, at the rate of over 30,000 cases per day, the math adds up to a number bordering on 2 million within the next 30 days.

Around the world, many developed nations that have already witnessed the devastation wrought upon its cities by the coronavirus are bracing themselves for what they are now calling the Second Wave of COVID-19. Here in India, citizens are still reeling from the impact of the very first wave, a surge that shows no signs of relenting. After months of wearying lockdowns and curtailing of large-scale economic activities, it seems those entrusted with power in the State, and Central levels are nowhere close to achieving a satisfactory degree of control over the pandemic.

While the concentration of over 55 per cent of the cases emerged in India’s three states – namely Delhi, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu, what has been a point for concern is the emergence of new clusters of COVID-19 in rural India. The current predicament merits a large-scale reassessment of India’s containment methodologies. Lockdowns alone haven’t been able to help curb the spread of COVID-19. And having constantly driven the message of ‘stay home’ to urban Indians, states are finding themselves overwhelmed as small towns take over the mantle of becoming super-spreaders. It’s next to impossible to fathom the burden that such numbers would exert on India’s critical healthcare infrastructure. Yet, here we are facing one of the grimmest challenges that the nation has faced post the Independence era.

The pandemic has proven one thing for sure – leadership and governance can only do so much. A big chunk of the responsibility of keeping ourselves and those around us safe – falls fairly and squarely upon citizens. The issue of testing – and why different states adopt different approaches to testing – is also a bone of contention, as far as the government is concerned. In some states you can get a test done on your own accord – no questions asked. And in other states, even a basic COVID-19 test would require the sign off from a doctor.

Arguably, a quarter of a year seems like a timeline woefully inadequate to understand what formulae worked, and the ones that didn’t in the case of COVID-19. The Centre must take an informed stand this time around by bringing on board all the states and steer clear of indulging in petty politics to prove a point. A national calamity of this magnitude deserves a focused approach that is ably assisted by the inputs of those on the frontlines – and those who stare at death daily and refuse to blink.

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