Living with Covid
THE resurgence of Covid-19 in several states of India shows that the novel coronavirus is not yet a thing of the past in the country. The daily caseload has reached 1,300 — the highest in over four months. A high-level review meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister on Wednesday, which happened to be the third anniversary of ‘Janata Curfew’ — the precursor to the stringent nationwide lockdown of 2020. The PM has stressed the need to enhance genome sequencing and maintain Covid-appropriate behaviour, even as the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has asked all states and UTs to ensure the availability of drugs for influenza and Covid. The ministry has also stated that mock drills will soon be held across the country to assess Covid preparedness.
According to health experts, the fresh spike in cases is not a harbinger of a new wave. They have asserted that there is no need to panic as the fatality rate and the number of hospitalisations are not increasing significantly. This reassurance should suffice to rule out any drastic step to curb the movement of people. The key takeaway from the Covid-induced restrictions imposed in the past three years is that they have merely delayed the inevitable. The lockdown of 2020 proved disastrous for the Indian economy, with millions of people losing their jobs. The country witnessed a devastating Covid wave in April-May 2021, but the situation has been under control after that, thanks to the country’s commendable vaccination programme. The havoc wreaked by the zero-Covid policy, which China had to withdraw after nationwide protests, gives India another reason to not make any self-defeating move.
The current surge is being attributed to Omicron XBB sub-variants. A recent US study says that vaccines and boosters are effective against these highly transmissible strains. The five-fold strategy — test-track-treat-vaccination-Covid-appropriate behaviour — should be continued in earnest as it has proved to be a success. An area of concern is the booster dose coverage, which has remained below par. The authorities need to revitalise the immunisation campaign and urge people to shed vaccine hesitancy. Covid is far from over, but if we get the basics right, things should be fine.
