How Things Change?

Early in the Covid-19 pandemic, India appeared to be remarkably resilient. The republic saw nothing like the death rates characterising many other countries. Experts speculated that India's relatively young population (older people were more likely to become dangerously ill with this viral infection) and a common habit of socialising outdoors, might have limited the worst conseqences of the disease. India also seemed to be well placed to counter the pandemic, being a major manufacturer of Covid-19 vaccines. The deathrate data seemed a bit odd, however, as people from a south Asian background, but living e.g. in the UK, seemed to have worse outcomes, when infected by Sars-CoV-2. Experts speculated that their living conditions (crowded housing with multi-generational households and 'front-line' jobs exposing them to the virus) must account for this. The second wave of infections has, however, hit India very badly (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/21/system-has-collapsed-india-descent-into-covid-hell). This time, young Indians (people in their 20s and 30s), are a large proportion of the seriously ill. Hospitals, in many parts of India, have been overwhelmed. There have been serious shortages of oxygen, used to help people with breathing difficulties. Experts, speculating again, have suggested the 'Indian' variant of the virus is responsible for this 'descent into hell'. The Indian variant may well be more infective but mutations will occur in any population with lots of infections (even if the infections are mild). It is always possible, of course, that authorities have also treated the virus with too little respect. Governments always want to get their economies 'up and running'. One technique is to 'downplay' the seriousness of the problem. This has certainly occurred in a variety of countries. The consequences are usually very bad. India is now on the UK 'red list', which will make travel difficult and expensive. It seems important to a) establish whether the current vaccines protect against the Indian variant and b) crack on with rolling-out of the vaccination programme in India.