The Indian Weekender, 30 April 2021

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14 INDIA Friday, April 30, 2021 The Indian Weekender INDIA COVID: Hospitals overwhelmed as deaths pass 200,000 India has reached the devastating figure of 200,000 coronavirus deaths, with the pressure on many hospitals showing no sign of abating amid a surging second wave. The real number of fatalities is thought to be far greater, with many not being officially recorded. Oxygen supplies remain critically low across the country, with the black market the only option for some people. Crematoriums are operating non-stop, with makeshift pyres in car parks. There have been at least 300,000 new infections every day in the past week, with more than 360,000 new cases in the past 24 hours. Overall, more than 17.9 million cases have been registered. Foreign aid has started to arrive from the UK and Singapore. Russia, New Zealand and France have pledged to send emergency medical equipment, and even regional rivals Pakistan and China have put aside their differences and promised to help. However, experts say the aid will only have a limited effect in a nation that has a population of 1.3 billion. A government website where Indians can register for a vaccination programme crashed soon after it launched on Wednesday, as tens of thousands of people tried to access it. And in the state of Assam, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake damaged hospitals which were already under intense strain. People ran from their homes and other buildings in panic. Mortality data in India is poor and deaths at home often go unregistered, especially in rural areas. There are reports of journalists counting bodies at morgues themselves, to try to get a more accurate number. In Uttar Pradesh, health officials said 68 people had died on one day earlier this month across the state. But a Hindi newspaper pointed out that officials also said there were 98 Covid funerals in the capital, Lucknow, alone. One man in Uttar Pradesh was investigated for spreading a "rumour with an intent to cause fear or alarm" by asking for help to find oxygen for his sick grandfather on Twitter. It caused widespread anger, and the man could face jail. Crematoriums continue to work throughout the night to keep up with the number of bodies arriving, and many families are facing long waits before their loved ones can receive funeral rites. Some say they were asked to help speed up the process by piling the wood themselves. Perils of the black market In the southern city of Bengaluru, one doctor told the BBC people were panicking. It is one of the worst-hit cities in India, with some estimates saying there are about 300 active Covid cases per square kilometre. The BBC's Ashitha Nagesh spoke to the senior consultant at a government hospital, who asked to remain anonymous. "We were not prepared for this second surge," the consultant said. "For the first surge it was well organised - as soon as we came to know [of the virus] everything was streamlined and we were much better prepared. "This time there are more cases, it was more sudden, and the situation was not prepared for." With most hospitals overwhelmed, families are having to find ways to treat loved ones at home. Many have turned to the black market, where prices of drugs such With most hospitals at capacity, many people are seeking help elsewhere, including this woman outside a Sikh temple in Ghaziabad as remdesivir and tocilizumab, and oxygen cylinders, have soared. But even in this market, supply is no guarantee, reports the BBC's Vikas Pandey in Delhi. "I know a family that cobbled together money to buy the first three doses of remdesivir from the black market, but couldn't afford to get the remaining three as prices shot up further," our correspondent says. "The patient continues to be critical." Some private jet companies have reported a spike in business, as people try to fly their sick relatives to other hospitals in India. "It's basically families of "For the first surge it was well organised - as soon as we came to know [of the virus] everything was streamlined and we were much better prepared. This time there are more cases, it was more sudden, and the situation was not prepared for." patients who are looking to get into a hospital and are trying to see if there are any beds in other parts of the country," Ashish Wastrad, head of Air Charter Service's Mumbai office, says. However, he said the company's planes were not properly equipped to carry Covid-positive patients. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported in its weekly epidemiological update that there were nearly 5.7 million new cases reported globally last week - and India accounts for 38% of them. It also said that the B.1.617 variant of the virus detected in India has a higher growth rate than other variants in the country, suggesting increased transmissibility. India is carrying out the world's biggest vaccination drive, but less than 10% of the population has so far received an initial jab, and as infections continue to surge, there are concerns about meeting the demand. The US is helping India with the raw materials it needs for vaccine production, after India's biggest vaccine maker, the Serum Institute of India, complained of shortages of specialised imports from the US. Meanwhile, the first batch of the Russian vaccine, Sputnik V, is set to arrive in India on 1 May, The New Indian Express reports. It has not yet been revealed how many doses will be delivered. A tragic sense of inevitability It's a horror story on repeat. Every day this week I've woken up to messages from friends and family in India, begging for help. Social media posts document the desperation. And it's not just in Delhi, it's in every corner of the country. "Can anyone find a bed in Jaipur for a friend's father?" "Who can help find some oxygen for a friend's grandmother in Uttar Pradesh?" "There are no beds in Pune, what should we do?" And sometimes the messages are even bleaker. "My neighbour died yesterday," a friend told me. "We couldn't get him a bed." Watching from afar, images of a broken India are hard to process. Taxis have been turned into makeshift ambulances. Car parks have become crematoriums. Freedom has turned into fear. "I worry I might get the virus while I walk my dog," another friend tells me, as she struggles through Delhi's ongoing lockdown. Aid is starting to reach India from overseas. But not enough, as cases continue to swamp India. As the world looks on at the endless images of burning pyres, there's a tragic sense of inevitability. Government under fire India is heading towards state elections, and there is increasing anger towards both state authorities and the central government for the handling of the pandemic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been accused of ignoring scientific warnings to participate in election rallies and allowing a massive Hindu festival to go ahead in northern India. Dr Navjot Dahiya, the vice-president of the Indian Medical Association, called Mr Modi a "super spreader" who had "tossed all Covid norms in the air". The prime minister said he had held three meetings to discuss ways to increase oxygen capacities and medical infrastructure, including the use of trains and military aircraft to speed up transport of oxygen supplies. The BBC's Yogita Limaye says many people are asking why the military and disaster response teams have not been put on a war footing to build field hospitals. "There is a sense of abandonment in the country, of people being left to fend for themselves," our correspondent reports. State and union territory governments, from Delhi to Karnataka, have been criticised for allowing Covid protocols to lapse and failing to prepare for what epidemiologists say was an inevitable surge in infections.
The Indian Weekender Friday, April 30, 2021 WORLD 15 Australia suspends flights from COVID-19 hotspot India Australia on Tuesday suspended direct flights from India to prevent more virulent coronavirus variants entering the country following a surge in positive COVID-19 cases in the world’s second-most populous nation. India’s coronavirus death toll neared the bleak milestone of 200,000 with another 2,771 fatalities reported on Tuesday, while its armed forces pledged urgent medical aid to help battle the staggering spike in infections. The suspension of direct passenger flights between the two countries will remain until May 15, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a televised news conference. “It is a humanitarian crisis and one gripping the world,” Morrison said. “We don’t think the answer is to forsake those Australians in India and just shut them off,” he added, reiterating the suspension was temporary to ensure Australia could manage arrivals from virus hotspots. Australia’s move impacts two passenger services from India into Sydney and two repatriating flights from India to Darwin, totalling around 500 arrivals. Morrison said the suspension would provide a “breather” to quarantine facilities in New South Wales state and the Northern Territory, given the majority of positive cases there came from India. Australia, which has all but stamped out the coronavirus from its shores, closed its borders to non-citizens and permanent residents in March 2020 to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Returning residents and citizens have to undergo a mandatory two-week hotel quarantine at their own expense, a system that has largely helped Australia to keep its COVID-19 numbers relatively low, with just under 29,700 cases and 910 deaths. The country reported zero new cases of community transmission on Tuesday. Some state premiers had earlier voiced concerns about rising coronavirus cases in quarantine hotels, calling for a suspension on flights from India. Western Australia, which on Monday emerged from a 3-day snap lockdown after reporting one local case last week, had been among the most vocal. “India, there needs to be a suspension,” Premier Mark McGowan told reporters in Perth, ahead of the federal government’s decision. “There is huge pressure now on all our quarantine facilities as a result of people coming from India.” Indian Covid-19 variant found in at least 17 countries: WHO India is facing surging Covid-19 new cases and deaths in the pandemic, and fears are rising that the variant could be contributing to the unfolding catastrophe. The World Health Organization said Tuesday that a variant of Covid-19 feared to be contributing to a surge in coronavirus cases in India has been found in over a dozen countries. The UN health agency said the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19 first found in India had as of Tuesday been detected in over 1,200 sequences uploaded to the GISAID open-access database "from at least 17 countries". "Most sequences were uploaded from India, the United Kingdom, USA and Singapore," the WHO said in its weekly epidemiological update on the pandemic. The WHO recently listed B.1.617 -- which counts several sub-lineages with slightly different mutations and characteristics -- as a "variant of interest". But so far it has stopped short of declaring it a "variant of concern". That label would indicate that it is more dangerous that the original version of the virus by for instance being more transmissible, deadly or able to dodge vaccine protections. India is facing surging new cases and deaths in the pandemic, and fears are rising that the variant could be contributing to the unfolding catastrophe. The explosion in infections in India – 350,000 new cases were recorded there on Tuesday alone – has driven a surge in global cases to 147.7 million. The virus has now killed more than 3.1 million people worldwide. The WHO acknowledged that its preliminary modelling based on sequences submitted to GISAID indicates "that B.1.617 has a higher growth rate than other circulating variants in India, suggesting potential increased transmissibility". It stressed that other variants circulating at the same time were also showing increased transmissibility, and that the combination "may be playing a role in the current resurgence in this country." "Indeed, studies have highlighted that the spread of the second wave has been much faster than the first," the WHO said. It highlighted though that "other drivers" could be contributing to the surge, including lax adherence to public health measures as well as mass gatherings. "Further investigation is needed to understand the relative contribution of these factors," it said. The UN agency also stressed that "further robust studies" into the characteristics of B.1.617 and other variants, including impacts on transmissibility, severity and the risk of reinfection, were "urgently needed". NEWS in BRIEF Activists fear HK immigration bill will allow arbitrary travel bans An immigration bill on Hong Kong’s legislative agenda for Wednesday would give authorities virtually unlimited powers to prevent residents and others entering or leaving the former British colony, lawyers, diplomats and rights groups say. The government says the bill merely aims to screen illegal immigrants at source amid a backlog of asylum applications, and does not affect movement rights. But lawyers say it empowers authorities to bar anyone, without a court order, from entering or leaving Hong Kong and fails to prevent indefinite detention for refugees. The government, which has pushed Hong Kong onto an increasingly authoritarian path since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020, faces no official opposition after democratic lawmakers resigned en masse last year in protest at the disqualification of colleagues. Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins dies at age 90 Often described as the "forgotten" third astronaut on the historic mission, Michael Collins remained alone for more than 21 hours until his two colleagues returned in the lunar module. American astronaut Michael Collins, who stayed behind in the command module of Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969, while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin traveled to the lunar surface to become the first humans to walk on the moon, died at age 90, his family said. A statement released by his family said Collins died of cancer. Often described as the "forgotten" third astronaut on the historic mission, Collins remained alone for more than 21 hours until his two colleagues returned in the lunar module. He lost contact with mission control in Houston each time the spacecraft circled the dark side of the moon. Singapore, Canada, Norway send support for India’s Covid-19 response Singapore is among the first countries to send oxygen cylinders to India amid reports of a severe shortage of oxygen in several cities. The cylinders will support last mile oxygen delivery and more consignments are expected in the coming days. Singapore, Canada and Norway have joined the list of countries that have announced support for India’s response to a devastating second wave of Coronavirus infections that has hit healthcare facilities across the country. The Singapore government despatched a consignment of 256 oxygen cylinders on two C-130 military transport aircraft to West Bengal. “Last year, [India] helped the world and [Singapore] by exporting essential medicines and supplies. Now, we stand with [India] as you fight Covid-19,” Singapore high commissioner Simon Wong tweeted. Singapore is among the first countries to send oxygen cylinders to India amid reports of a severe shortage of oxygen in several cities. The cylinders will support last mile oxygen delivery and more consignments are expected in the coming days. In Singapore, second minister for foreign affairs Maliki Osman formally handed over the assistance to Indian high commissioner P Kumaran at Paya Lebar airbase. Maliki said Singaporeans stand in solidarity with the people of India in the fight against the pandemic.
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The Indian Weekender, 30 April 2021

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