Covid - 19 Situation in India

By: N. Elmôr 

India is the second most affected country by the pandemic in the world, with more than 19.5 million people infected. At present, approximately 215 thousand people have died because of the corona virus in India.  
 
The Indian health care system has reached its limit; the quantity of hospital beds and oxygen tanks it can provide do not account for the number of people who are sick. 
 
New variants of the virus found in India are responsible for a higher transmission rate. According to specialists, at least two mutations have made the virus even more dangerous and lethal in the nation. These mutations may have made human cells more vulnerable to the virus who is capable of resisting the antibodies in the human body. With these new variants of the virus, the worry of how quickly the virus is mutating and adapting to the human body increases.  
 
The federal government in India have been reluctant to impose a national lockdown. Despite this, about a dozen Indian states have put in place some restrictions to avoid the spread of the virus. 
 
In April, Narendra Modi, the Indian prime-minister, announced that the whole nation should be battling to avoid a nation-wide lockdown. The federal government fears that another lockdown may have a devastating impact on the economy. Last year’s lockdown, after the first wave of the virus, led to unemployment due to the economic production falling a record of 24% in April-June 2020 compared with the same period the year before.  
 
The unprecedented increase in cases led to a reduction of medical professionals in the healthcare sector.  
 
With the Indian healthcare system in chaos and a decrease of workers in the economy (as more citizens get ill or have to take care of relatives), international aid began arriving. Countries, such as the United States, have sent over essential oxygen equipment, therapeutic products and raw materials for the production of vaccines. 
 
 
Source: Vitorio T. “Índia bate recorde de mortes diárias por Covid-19”, CNN Brasil, published 02/05/21, accessed 03/05/21, https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/internacional/2021/05/02/india-bate-recorde-de-mortes-diarias-por-covid-19  ​