MM Magazine - May 2021

COVID in India
Crisis worsens as Manchester-based families are helpless
My father was hospitalised with Covid. My
best friend’s entire family got Covid. My
younger sister, my brother, my mother, my
brothers-in-law. My husband’s entire family
also got Covid,” she said.
“It was stressful for me. I believed everybody
was safe in February when the numbers
were low, but by March, the Covid cases were
exploding and it was very, very stressful.”
Mrs Gupta last saw her family in February
2019. She has since had a baby girl.
“My mum, my aunts and my sister have
not seen my baby, who is 18 months old,” she
glumly reflected. “They are always complaining,
‘Now she’s grown up and we haven’t seen
her’.”
There is also a feeling of responsibility. “My
husband feels he should be there to support
his parents and family,” she added. “We have a
very big family and everyone misses us. When
I missed my cousin’s wedding, they said, ‘Why
are you there? Why are you not here?’”
By Andrew Dowdeswell
“24 March was my most difficult
day.” That is what Dr Anil Sharma,
Professor and Head of Cardiology at
Bombay Hospital in Mumbai, told me
when reflecting on his experiences of Covid
in India.
This was Dr Sharma’s first encounter with
Covid. One day later, India was thrust into
nationwide lockdown.
“When I was coming home, around 6 pm,
I was in my car with the sun setting,” he
recounted. “I got a call from Casualty showing
an ECG of a 50-year-old male showing myocardial
infarction.”
The man had suffered a heart attack. Dr
Sharma returned to the hospital immediately
and examined him. A relative informed him
the man had a cough, fever, and breathlessness
for the past seven days. Looking to
conduct further investigations, Dr Sharma
wanted to admit the man to ICU. 20 minutes
later though, he had died.
India’s Covid situation has since spiralled
out of control. “It is quite graphic,” one Indian-based
source said. “We are in a situation
where crematoriums are completely filled up.
I don’t think the numbers are accurate either.
From my perspective, it could be two or three
times more.”
Even if they are underplayed, the numbers
are still staggering. India topped 400,000 daily
cases and 4,000 deaths earlier this month.
Only the United States has had more total
cases over the pandemic.
On Tuesday, The World Health Organisation’s
Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan
described the numbers as “of great concern”,
adding that they were “underestimates”.
Dr. Swaminathan urged the Government to
investigate the true number.
The Indian casualties extend to more than
just cases and deaths. “As a cardiologist, I
had a problem getting beds in the wards,” Dr
Sharma said.
“A significant number of the beds were
reserved for Covid. And because of the
lockdown, a lot of staff were unavailable, so
the total capacity of the hospital was reduced
from 630 beds to around 300 beds. Throughout
April and May, we were all horrified.”
Dr Sharma also had to take drastic action to
care for his patients. “For two of my patients,
I arranged my own temporary ICU in the
general ward,” he explained.
“That was very difficult. I could not sleep
and I was worried about what would happen
to the patients, what the moral and legal repercussions
would be if something happened
to the patient in the ward. But we had no option
because there was no ICU bed available.”
The impact that Covid is having across India
specifically is also being felt across the world;
even here in Manchester.
Supriya Gupta (below), who lives in Cheadle,
has her whole family still suffering at
home.
“My grandmother, my mother, my father.
All my aunts. The situation is very stressful.
Back in India, Dr Sharma (right) explained
Covid has spread beyond the
cities and into the rural areas, where
health services are far less rigorous
and a higher rate of deaths is expected. There
is a growing fear that, while the worst may be
behind, many more deaths are ahead.
“People are disappointed,” one source said.
“There is a general sense of being let down by
the way things are being run. Our frontline
workers are putting their all into it. They are
doing everything they can, but they don’t have
the resources and are struggling.
“A lot of these cases could have been cured
but they don’t have the resources.”
They continued: “No matter who you are as a
country, mismanagement and poor governance
will cause the exact same consequences.
There are very few governments globally that
have stepped up to the plate.”
The source told of a story of the Federal
Government, run by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, stealing vaccines from State Governments
despite having already delegated
the vaccine rollout to each State Government.
Meanwhile, BBC reports have repeatedly
been quashed, with the filming of hospitals
conducted secretly and criticism strongly
suppressed. There are also cultural elements
at play.
“There is a significant part of the country
that is illiterate,” the source added. “We tend
to have a ‘follow the herd’ culture.”
They also explained how many people in
India believe they have a stronger immune
system. This, of course, is true. Delhi belly,
also known as Travellers’ Diarrhoea, exists
for a reason. But it also creates an element of
complacency.
“People became confident when the numbers
were very low,” Mrs Gupta surmised.
“They stopped wearing masks, they were
meeting in big groups. They thought, ‘this is
the end, now we are free’. They should have
been more careful.”
India is still a developing country and large
swathes of the population live in poverty. Pew
Research Center estimated 134 million Indians
live in extreme poverty, which is defined
as earning less than $2 per day. This has more
than doubled in the last year due to Covid,
with India now called a “country of mass
poverty” for the first time in 45 years.
“People here can barely make it from one
meal to the other,” the source added. “When
you try to tell them why don’t you buy masks
that are 100 or 200 rupees, that’s a lot. It’s a
massive amount, and there is no help from
the Government to provide them with the
resources they need, neither an education
system in place or any social welfare.”
It is a melting pot for a hugely transmittable
virus to thrive.
But this issue is not unique to the sub-continent.
While India may have set world records
in daily cases and deaths, other countries,
some of which are far more developed and
well-equipped to deal with the virus, including
the UK and US, have struggled mightily
too.
“The situation is a lot more similar than
people perhaps realise. To assume that
Western people are better disciplined or more
culturally developed is not true. Just two
months ago, we were watching the situation
in England and thinking, ‘Woah, what’s going
on?!’ when we were actually okay.”
They explained that Western media has reported
the story very differently, sensationalising
the Indian problems and suggesting that
such issues would never happen in the West.
They said: “It is not that different. The context
that surrounds it is different but the core
of what is happening is the same and the way
people behave is the same no matter where
you come from. It is a little bit of Western
arrogance.”
But there is hope for the future. “With
increasing vaccination, I think we are ready
to fight against the third wave,” Dr Sharma
proclaimed.
Whether India’s increasing vaccination is
happening quickly enough is debatable. As of
May 2, Our World in Data shows just 2% of
India’s 1.4 billion people have been fully inoculated.
Less than 10% had received one dose.
There has been growing criticism of Modi
as vaccine supplies fail. India announced last
week it intends to vaccinate all 18-44 yearolds,
equating to around 600 million people,
but a lack of supplies means many are waiting.
“People want to get it but there are not the
supplies,” a source added.
But for all the criticism of Modi, India has
embarked on its Covid challenge in a global
manner. It has exported 66 million doses.
Contrast that to the UK, where it has been
reported that no vaccines have been exported.
“The British Prime Minister has made it
clear to me that, oviously, his first priority is
to vaccinate his people,” Irish Prime Minister
Micheál Martin said via BBC News on March
9. “Until then he won’t be in a position to give
vaccines to anybody, and he has made that
point to me.”
India is now paying the price for its generosity.
But its generosity is a fundamental
belief. “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,” Mrs Gupta
and Dr Sharma both said. It means: “the
world is one family”, and right now, India
needs its family.
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