148 Million Cases and India's Unfolding TragedyI

The world has registered 148 million cases – and India alone contributed 47.5% of daily new cases. 

There’s no denying it anymore, the country is in full crisis mode. 

India has already confirmed more than 197,000 deaths and 17.6 million cases – more than five million have been added just this month alone. FYI, as at March 31, 2021 there were nearly 163,000 deaths and 12.2 million cases. 

The devastating effect is evident in the images pouring in from crematoriums across the country – of anguished families waiting for hours to perform last rites, mass cremations as cities run out of space to honor the dead and incessant plumes of smoke from funeral pyres. 

Journalists in many Indian cities have challenged official figures, often spending days outside crematoriums to count the dead. Their estimates suggest that deaths in some cities are ten times higher than what is being reported.

The steep increase in Covid-19 cases in India, where the health care system is on the verge of collapse has been attributed to the new B.1.617 double mutant strain that is considered to be more contagious and spreads quicker compared to other variants around the world. 

In fact, Al Jazeera reported that this variant had been initially detected in the country at the end of last year! However, India only acknowledged the presence of the mutated virus at the end of March this year. 

So far, many countries, including Singapore, the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Iran, Kuwait, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, and Italy have banned flights from India due to concern over the double mutant strain of the virus. 

Shockingly but not surprisingly, Malaysia will ban flights to and from India only from tomorrow! That’s the PN government for you! There's no sense of urgency.