Joseph D’Souza: India’s Devastation from COVID-19 Is Far Greater Than Reportedhttps://christiannewsjournal.com/joseph-dsouza-indias-devastation-from-covid-19-is-far-greater-than-reported/In large part, we in India successfully managed the first wave of COVID-19; but we were fooled into believing that we were immune to a second. Medical experts were the only ones in India warning us about a second wave of the pandemic, which wreaked havoc throughout Europe and the U.S.
Sadly, politicians fell into a frenzied triumphalism based on how the first wave of COVID-19 affected India. They postulated about “Indian immunity” and praised the efficacy of local, unscientific “cures.” Some even suggested that the waters of the Ganges River would kill the virus as tens of millions of people thronged at Haridwar for a holy dip.
People have been dying with virtually no access to such necessities as rapid tests, oxygen, and medical care, especially in rural India. While the world is very much focused on the conflict in Israel, our situation remains catastrophic.
A trip to the main district hospital for those living in the villages is a last resort, as the quality of care and facilities have been in steady decline for years. Judging by the way this virus continues to mutate, India is facing years of devastation as people are dying en masse. This second wave of COVID-19 is ravaging the countryside in particular. Infections and deaths are grossly underreported.
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Most Indians know that our public health care system is broken and cannot adequately meet the sprawling country’s needs. In the last budget, the allocation for health care was cut by nearly 50 percent. Our annual allocation for health care is only 2 percent of India’s budget, while nations like the United States have over 15 percent allocated for health care.
I'm only posting this as a follow-up on the magnitude of the situation in India. The writer's view is that vastly greater
government-funded healthcare is what India needs, and that would probably be a vastly greater disaster.
The current picture is that India's healthcare system is so out of proportion to its population that the true magnitude of its current surge may be unknowable. The Worldometer daily new cases chart shows that the surge has peaked and is declining. Whether the :decline" is real or simply incomplete data,
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