ISLAMABAD, The government of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is under fire with criticism pouring in from all over for ignoring the lethality of the ongoing wave of COVID-19 that has led to alarming death rate in the country.<\/p>\n
The medical journal The Lancet has severely criticised the Narendra Modi government for its handling of the COVID-19 crisis in India, saying it has given the impression of being more occupied with \u201cremoving criticism on Twitter than trying to control the pandemic\u201d.<\/p>\n
The editorial of the world\u2019s oldest and best-known general medical journals minced no words, saying that India\u2019s top government officials prematurely declared victory over the pandemic \u2013 highlighting health minister Harsh Vardhan\u2019s comment that \u2018India is in the endgame\u2019, leading to \u201ccomplacency and insufficient preparation\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe modelling suggested falsely that India had reached herd immunity, encouraging complacency and insufficient preparation, but a survey by the Indian Council of Medical Research in January suggested that only 21% of the population had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2,\u201d the editorial says.<\/p>\n
The editorial comes at a time when many Indians are struggling to find hospital beds and oxygen cylinders for COVID-19 patients who require critical care. On Saturday, India reported its highest death toll yet due to COVID-19, recording 4,187 fatalities. The country also reported 401,078 new infection, the third consecutive day with more than 0.4 million new cases.<\/p>\n
The journal also criticised the government\u2019s decision \u2013 despite warnings \u2013 to allow religious and political congregations. These events are \u201cconspicuous for their lack of COVID-19 mitigation measures\u201d, the editorial said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe message that COVID-19 was essentially over also slowed the start of India\u2019s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, which has vaccinated less than 2% of the population. At the federal level, India\u2019s vaccination plan soon fell apart. The government abruptly shifted course without discussing the change in policy with states, expanding vaccination to everyone older than 18 years, draining supplies, and creating mass confusion and a market for vaccine doses in which states and hospital systems competed,\u201d The Lancet said.<\/p>\n
The journal said that the country\u2019s \u201cbotched\u201d vaccination campaign must immediately be rationalised and implemented with all due speed. It saw two immediate bottlenecks: increasing vaccine supply (some of which should come from abroad) and setting up a distribution campaign that will also cover rural and poorer citizens, who \u201cface a desperate scarcity of public health and primary care facilities\u201d. \u201cThe government must work with local and primary health-care centres that know their communities and create an equitable distribution system for the vaccine,\u201d it suggested.<\/p>\n
The Lancet asked the government to publish \u201caccurate data in a timely manner\u201d, and forthrightly explain to the public what is happening and what is needed to bend the epidemic curve. The editorial says the government must also consider the possibility of a new federal lockdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cModi\u2019s actions in attempting to stifle criticism and open discussion during the crisis are inexcusable,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
Citing estimates made by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, The Lancet said India could see one million deaths from COVID-19 by August 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that outcome were to happen, Modi\u2019s Government would be responsible for presiding over a self-inflicted national catastrophe.,\u201d the editorial says.<\/p>\n
The success of this restructured response will depend on the government \u201cowning up to its mistakes, providing responsible leadership and transparency, and implementing a public health response that has science at its heart\u201d, it concluded.<\/p>\n
Ashish K. Jha, Physician and Dean of Brown Public Health, UK said Indian government was not telling the correct figures of COVID-19 cases and deaths. He said the number of dead in crematoriums are \u201ctelling us the disease is much worse than the official statistics\u201d.<\/p>\n
Vinod K. Jose, Executive Editor The Caravan India and Alumnus Columbia Journalism School New York severely criticized the policies of Modi government for ignoring the warnings about the fatal wave of coronavirus.<\/p>\n
The Economist in its article said India\u2019s COVID-19 crisis has spiralled out of control as the region is recording four times as many cases today as it was at the peak of the first wave.<\/p>\n
It said India\u2019s \u201cmountain\u201d of new COVID-19 infections is like none other in the course of the pandemic. On April 30th the daily tally of new cases surpassed 400,000, making the country\u2019s current caseload far and away the heaviest yet (the next-biggest outside India was America\u2019s 300,000 new cases recorded on January 2nd).<\/p>\n
\u201cEven that terrible figure is sure to be an underestimate. The share of Indians testing positive for COVID-19 is now 23.5%; if a greater proportion of India\u2019s population of 1.4bn were tested, no doubt millions of new cases would be detected,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
The article mentioned that compared with the scale of South Asia\u2019s first wave, which peaked in September, the second was \u201cshocking\u201d. South America, another region with a surging caseload, is recording 60% more cases today than at the peak of the first wave. South Asia is logging four times as many, and with hardly a sign of slowing, it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, The government of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is under fire with criticism pouring in from all over for ignoring the lethality of the ongoing wave of COVID-19 that has led to alarming death rate in the country. The medical journal The Lancet has […]<\/p>\n
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