142 Million Cases and India's Virus Mayhem

Indeed, coronavirus cases are rising and the global tally has surpassed 142 million. 

India especially is in a bad place – it currently records more new cases of coronavirus than any other country. As of Sunday, the seven-day average for new daily infections was 219,000, according to Our World in Data. 

India has recorded more than 15 million cases while deaths have surged to 180,000. It is claimed, however, that antibody surveys and modelling are suggesting the actual figure could be more than 450 million, so says Gautam Menon at Ashoka University in Sonepat, Haryana. 

The economy has struggled to recover following a months-long lockdown last year and the country’s second wave of the coronavirus epidemic is proving deadlier than the first. 

The blame is put squarely at the feet of the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left), if we believe social media postings. 

He’s received backlash over his responses to surging coronavirus cases, with netizens criticizing his decision to address tens of thousands of people at state election rallies and letting devotees congregate for the weeks-long Hindu festival, Kumbh Mela that began in March and peaks in April in the holy town of Haridwar, Uttarakhand, next to the Ganges. 

Tags including #ResignModi and #SuperSpreaderModi have trended on Twitter in the past two days, as urgent cries for hospital beds, medical oxygen and coronavirus tests flooded social media.

Oh, and its capital New Delhi has already imposed a 6-day strict lockdown starting last night.

Also, the surge in India appears to be driven mainly by the more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant from the UK, which is causing around 40 percent of cases in Asia, according to pathogen-tracking project Nextstrain. Another 16 percent of cases are due to the B.1.351 variant that evolved in South Africa.