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Apr 30, 20214 min read

What can be done to alleviate the COVID-19 outbreak in India?

By: Gargi Rakhade


Given India has a population of 1.3 billion people, it comes as no surprise that the pandemic has thrown the entire country into disarray. It doesn't help that India is densely populated, making it the perfect breeding ground for covid and all of its variant strands. With many people in the country returning back to their pre-pandemic lives despite the concerning rise in the number of cases, the Indian government needs to act now to not only decrease the spread of the virus but also lessen the harsh consequences of the pandemic that affected Indians all across the nation.


What have been the effects of the Pandemic in India?

Currently, India is reporting around 350,000 new cases every single day, and rates like that haven’t been seen from any country since the beginning of the pandemic, and even then this number is most likely to be a gross underestimation. The rate of infection in Delhi rose from 3% all the way to 36% in the span of just around a month, and all the while hospitals in the majority of cities and towns have no room left and are forced to turn patients away. Furthermore, India’s healthcare system is crumbling and leaving people more unprotected and vulnerable than ever before. The deaths per day are at a record high of 2800, crematoriums are running their furnaces around the clock all over the country.


How did it get this bad?

Although the first wave of covid back in 2020 hit the country pretty harshly, around mid-September of 2020, cases started sharply decreasing, for thirty straight weeks in a row. However, as the country reopened, CDC guidelines such as wearing masks, and social distancing, began to become less and less enforced, and the economic effects of the pandemic started to take effect and push 75 million people in poverty, cases started rising again in mid-February. Since then, cases had been steadily increasing, up until just a few weeks ago where they started rising sharply, and vertically, and infecting millions around the country.


What can be done to decrease the number of cases?

For starters, the Indian government can do the obvious and revert back to a strict national state of national lockdown, and impose consequences such as fines for those who break lockdown. This is what lessened cases in 2020, however this time it's crucial that to avoid another huge outbreak the Indian government should get vaccinations out to the public swiftly and slowly reopen, instead of suddenly like previously. Currently, New Delhi is enforcing a 6-day lockdown, but one single city imposing a lockdown for less than a week is not nearly enough to fix the larger problem

Secondly, India needs to make the vaccine more accessible to the public. Right now only around 8.8% of the population is vaccinated, and only 1.7% are fully vaccinated. The Indian government needs to increase accessibility to the vaccine, as the majority of people in India live in smaller, rural areas, or poorer “slums” in urban cities. India needs to do more than just give the vaccine to those who are at the top of the financial ladder, they need to ensure the protection of vulnerable populations. Increasing accessibility means opening up vaccination drives in poor areas and especially in rural areas, as in many cases those in rural or poorer areas of India don't have the means or the time to make a trip all the way to the nearest vaccination site. Furthermore, with vaccinations happening through the black market, the overall effort to vaccinate people was slowed down.

A long-term investment that the Indian government must make to decrease the number of cases throughout the country is to begin directing investment into the healthcare infrastructure industry. As ICU space in hospitals is overflowing, the Indian government needs to start constructing more emergency rooms around the country, as well as in rural areas, where there is only one if any hospitals, forcing people to travel hours, sometimes days to visit the nearest hospital. Furthermore, providing transportation to hospitals is another essential to make hospitals more easily accessible for those living in rural areas. Indian hospitals are also lacking in medical and sanitary equipment, so by investing more money into the manufacturing of that industry, they would not only be helping the lack of supply but making revenue simultaneously, considering how large the demand is right now.


Finally, to end on a more financial note, the Indian government needs to increase its financial relief package to the people. Currently, the package is doing the absolute bare minimum, and in the majority of cases those who have to provide for an entire family, and get laid off from work, these financial relief packages aren't exactly relieving to them. By increasing the stimulus checks more people who still even have the choice to stay home, can actually do sp and still sustain themselves, and thus lessen the spread of the virus.


RELIEF FUND LINKS-DONATE IF YOU CAN:

Association for India’s development- https://aidindia.org/donate/covid-relief-fund/

American India foundation- https://aif.org/


Discussion questions:

  1. Has the government of India done enough to take care of the people during the pandemic?

  2. How can India begin to recover financially?

  3. What does the pandemic mean for Modi’s popularity in India?


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