The Second Wave of Covid 19 in India
Second, Going on Third?
3,2,1…… Happy New Year we wished each other, thinking we would be happier this new year as we got rid of masks and breathed freely without the virus lurking in the air. But what we got instead was, increasing cases of Covid and as a new year bonus a stronger and newer variant of the virus. Human bravado made us forget the useful existence of masks and the importance of social distancing. We have our favorite social media influencers makings trending reels ranting about “The pandemic is not over, wear a mask and maintain distance”. It’s surprising how normal people on the road are getting
inspired by fashion influencers, they have invented their own ways of wearing a mask, be it as a cap or hanging it as an earring behind the ears. Even today we see the cops
collecting fines from the non-maskers. How is 2021 different from 2020? Well, we have the vaccine and we did not make memes on how terrible 2020 is, probably we
are more or less used to it. In short, welcome to the second wave of the corona, it sucks but you are gonna love it (Please don’t kill me, I am budding Monica of F.R.I.E.N.D.S). We have lots of questions and queries, if’s and but’s about what’s next. We really don’t know what’s next. We have to be patient and ready for whatever happens. And no …..chanting “Go Corona, Corona Go” will not be useful this time too!
The Second Wave Prediction
Whoever believes prevention is better than cure is the most sensible human out there. The second wave was already predicted by scientists during the first wave. But who noticed? Maybe we were busy making Algona. The mathematical approach named SUTRA predicted the initial surge of infection would peak by September. The current surge was predicted by scientists, including Manindra Agrawal from IIT Kanpur by using the model,
SUTRA. He also blamed the reopening of schools, colleges, and working areas, where people became comparatively more careless. This mathematical model also has parameters that measure the rate of spread or the contact rate. It was also predicted that Punjab would be the first state to be affected by the second wave, followed by Maharashtra.
Second Wave: The Causes
The major factor responsible for the second wave of Covid19 is human behavior, say experts at the John Hopkins Medicine. Last year people were scared and followed all the precautions. Washing and sanitizing of hands, as well as goods, were taken seriously. Stepping out
of the house only happened during emergencies or to purchase essential commodities or due to medical reasons. There was a sense of fear in people. The strict lockdown
was not something that we were used to, it was indeed a major change. Some found it mentally exhausting, still followed all the rules, and found ways to adjust. Soon, this
became the ‘new normal. The number of cases started declining, and so did the number of people taking precautions. Public spaces like malls, gyms, parks, etc. started functioning normally. People ignored the existence of a pandemic. Crowds could be seen on the roads, in malls, picnicking, get-togethers, getting over the fatigue of social distancing. We went back to 2019 normal. Cities like Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Delhi are the worst affected not only in the second but also the first
wave. The reason is, these cities have greater mobility that provided more opportunities for the virus to spread from one person to another. Mutation of the virus cannot be ignored. Numerous mutations have been detected by the scientists in SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. The new mutation is detected in several states
in India. Dr. SP Kalantri, Medical Superintendent of Kasturba Hospital, Maharashtra says “The virus seems to have become more transmissible in the second wave. We are admitting entire families who are infected. We are also seeing a lot of young people, aged below 40, getting sick”.
Rallies, Religious Gatherings Aggravate India’s Worst COVID Surge
In the midst of rising COVID-19 cases across India, the Election Commission (EC) has raised genuine worries over the infringement of COVID-19 rules by heads of various ideological groups during the political race in West Bengal and different states and cautioned that the EC will boycott political conventions on the off chance that they neglect to consent to the COVID rules.
The survey board composes a letter to all perceived ideological groups and said, “It is generally realized that in the new weeks, COVID cases are being accounted for in bigger numbers. Nonetheless, examples of political decision gatherings/crusades have gone to the notification of the commission, where standards of social removing, wearing of covers have been spurned in negligence to the commission’s rules.”
In its letter, the EC featured a few occurrences of star campaigners and political pioneers or up-and-comers not noticing COVID-19 conventions, “counting non-wearing of veils themselves at the stage or while crusading”.
But Still, there are political parties such as BJP, TMC & INC that are busy with Political rallies and their political candidates doing Road Shows in West Bengal Election 2021.
First Wave Vs The Second Wave
We all had high expectations from this year. We all were planning our mask-free vacations. But nothing changed, but something’s changed. The first 2-3 months of last
year’s lockdown had a different vibe. We all were watching Ramayana and channeling our inner chefs. The Instagram explore page was filled with lockdown contents and memes. Slowly it was kind of exhausting. Let’s be honest, no matter how anti-social you are, at some point deep inside you, you wanted the old normal back, but you also somewhere enjoyed the new normal. This is a very inexplicable yet unique feeling. It will surely differ from person to person. Fast forward to the year 2021. If we look around, the rules and regulations are not as strict and rigid as compared to last year. It’s a “partial lockdown”
instead of a full-fledged lockdown. We have to consider the economic criteria too. Thankfully a traditional “lockdown”, is imposed on weekends. Most importantly, now we have vaccines. The announcement of the second wave lockdown wasn’t as surprising /shocking as well. The only shock we all have is, “it’s 2021 and
Covid is still there”. We have changed from “wear a mask” to “wear a mask and please get yourself vaccinated”. The stress and chaos are comparatively less and thankfully
under control??? But that does not eliminate the virus. The only thing that has changed is the infecting ability of the virus.
Conclusion
The whole 2020 and the beginning of 2021(trying to be optimistic here) have been challenging. The lockdown made a lot of people jobless. A number of industries, especially travel and tourism, aviation, hospitality, small-scale industries, daily wage earners suffered tragically. We came to know how and where we stand as a country. Everything went online, from school to colleges, businesses. But the question is, can everyone afford smartphones and high-quality internet connections, can all our
economic activities go online? The answer is NO. They say that 2020 was just a trailer of the film The trailer was scary and a psychological roller coaster. Let us for once not hope for a scarier and nail-biting film. Nobody wants a third wave, let alone a second wave. We all want the old normal back where we were virus and mask-free. We have to do nothing, just switch that mode on where we were genuinely alert and cautious. All of us are
mature enough to know what to do and what not to do, but I am still repeating and you repeat after me, “Masks, Social Distancing and Sanitizing, and Vaccination for those Eligible”. Break the chain, break the wave. Go back to the forgotten lessons from the first wave. Look back, how cautious we were, how we triumphed. Let the only wave we march towards be the wave of common sense, positivity, and hope. Let’s go back to the good old days of the ‘old normal’.
Article By : Anshika Barai
