The Indian exception has suddenly changed its sign: in a few weeks we have gone from celebrating the miracle of the country that seemed to have defeated Covid before the mass vaccinations, to the black state of contagions and deaths. The virus spreads from New Delhi to Mumbai, with over two thousand deaths in 24 hours and more than 314 thousand new cases every day. the first time that a country exceeds 300,000, exceeding the maximum number of new infections reached in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic: the 297,430 cases reported in 24 hours in January in the United States.
La pandemia a Mumbai
The hospitals in the capital New Delhi and in the most affected state, Mumbai, are collapsing: lung ventilators, oxygen and beds are missing, the intensive care units have been full for days. The news is that two thirds of hospitalized patients are now under 45 years old, the doctors of Delhi report. In Mumbai there are also 12 or 15 year old boys hospitalized: during the first wave they had never seen any. A Gujarat hospital has even opened the first pediatric ward exclusively reserved for Covid patients. The Times of India states that the percentage of infected among young people remained unchanged in the two waves, the difference is that the cases are now more serious and lethal. Among the victims also the son of the leader of the Indian Communist Party Sitaram Yechury, 34, who died overnight.
Outside the hospitals there are endless queues of ambulances, rickshaws and private vehicles, with the sick who breathe thanks to oxygen cans and hope to be admitted to the ward. The televisions are invaded by images of the crematoria, where the employees are unable to dispose of the excess of corpses, with family members waiting even days to attend the funeral rites of their loved ones.
The words of the Indian Prime Minister
The worsening of the situation prompted the prime minister Narendra Modi to address the nation: The surge in infections came like a storm e a great battle awaits us, he said assuring that the government and the pharmaceutical industry are stepping up efforts to address hospital bed shortages and the lack of oxygen, tampons and vaccines.
Modi under attack for how he handled the crisis and for having recently held, in view of the local elections, oceanic rallies without a mask and in defiance of the rules on social distancing: the country relaxed too early, even giving way to sports and religious gatherings, and thus favored the of variants. The Indian one,B.1.617, considered more contagious and lethal than the others. The emergency situation has imposed new confinement measures in New Delhi and restrictions in the state of Maharashtra.
The Covid situation in India: insights
Meanwhile, the immunization campaign is proceeding. India has so far administered 130 million vaccines, behind only the US and China. But with over 1.3 billion inhabitants, only 8% of the population is vaccinated with at least one dose. The vials are currently available for frontline workers and 45-year-olds, from May for all adults.
Stocks are running out in many states and the Serum Institute of India, which produces AstraZeneca, has revised its forecasts downwards: it had planned to bring production to 100 million monthly doses by the end of May from the current 60-70 million, but now the target has moved to July. Pfizer could come to the rescue, offering its vaccine at a cost price to help the country move forward with its immunization program.
April 22, 2021 (change April 22, 2021 | 13:01)
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