Editorial: One year of COVID and one crore cases

India is preceded by the US, with 17 mn confirmed cases and the superpower holds the dubious distinction of being the first nation to surpass the 10 mn mark. The saving grace is that the latest data from the Union Health Ministry informs us that our recovery has breached 9.60 mn, or 95%, which, as per the Centre, is among the highest numbers globally.

Conversely, the number of those who have recovered in the US is 10 mn, which sets its recovery rate at 58.50%, a number that could improve, now that the nation has started administering the Pfizer/BioNTech SE COVID-19 vaccine.

As India, and Chennai stagger back to normalcy, and people experience some of the joys curtailed for a better part of the year, the beaches, cultural programmes, films, or just an evening out with the family, caution has taken a backseat again. The recent contagion at IIT-Madras, which turned into a COVID cluster, with over 200 cases, has put Tamil Nadu’s School Education Department into a backtracking mode. It was after intense discussions that it was decided to call final year college-goers back to their campuses.

And now, students across varsities are being checked for infection, cleaning drives are being undertaken in their messes and living quarters are being swabbed clean. On reopening of educational institutions, these developments beg the question, how soon is too soon?

The fire-fighting played out vis-a-vis the COVID-19 situation and the government’s reactions bring to mind a study that has become a manual of sorts for road safety. It says 1 in every 3 car crashes takes place between 1 and 5 miles of where the driver lives. The reason was that many drivers turn lazy while practising safe driving behaviour closer to their homes as they feel they know the area like the back of their hands. The analogy fits the Indian scenario, where the mere mention of vaccine development, has given citizens free rein on personal hygiene. An exasperated administration has thrown its hands up in the air and permitted buses to ply in full strength, masking and distancing be darned.

Similar scenes of unruly gatherings are witnessed daily, in political rallies and public transit hubs.

The end of the year, culminating in Christmas and New Year, might prove to be a crowd control nightmare as state administrations are weighing options on when and how long to keep people reigned in. Officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have capped New Year’s eve bashes to 11.30 pm, which translated as a pounding for Mumbai’s F&B and hospitality industry. Owners of bars are mulling to skip the New Year revelries altogether in the absence of clear guidelines, which could well mean the end of the road for small-time operators.

Undoubtedly, we have been through a challenging year. Our socialising has trickled down to a bare minimum and even festive occasions have been funereal. Considering how the busiest and most economically productive months of the year turned into a washout, one can only fathom how workers associated with any sort of enterprise are eking out a living in this milieu. For those of us with a roof over our heads, a job to report to, food on our plates, and the reassuring presence of families, this is a moment for a renewed thanksgiving. It’s also a time for reflection, for those who have lost all these. It is counter-intuitive that the survivors choose to abandon caution when the flat horizon seems just around the corner.