By Elizabeth Sitotombe

TWO months ago, no-one could have forseen the coronavirus storm India was about to be engulfed in. 

India finds itself in the throes of a catastrophic Second Wave. 

The high levels of suffering in the country have shocked the world. 

Reports continue to pour in of people gasping for breath and dying on the streets as a high shortage of hospital beds and oxygen hits the country. 

The country’s healthcare system has all but buckled under the intense pressure coming from new COVID-19 cases.

Crematoriums and burial grounds are said to be overwhelmed with dead bodies.

The country’s Health Minister announced in the second week of March that the country was at the ‘endgame’ of the pandemic, but contrary to his statement, we saw a sharp spike in coronavirus cases.

India recorded its first case in January 2020, reaching a total of 10 million infections by December 2020. However the country has surpassed 10 million cases in just under five months. 

As of May 1, the Indian State of Maharashtra, which has also turned out to be the epicentre of the latest coronavirus outbreak reported the highest number of active COVID-19 cases of over 663 000 according to the health ministry data, to date the country at large has recorded over 20 million cases, 222 000 deaths and 3, 45 million active cases recording the highest numbers per day to ever been reported in the world. According to the World Health Organisation, one in every three new COVID-19 cases globally is being reported in India.

Historically second waves have always been damaging because viruses would have mutated and become more aggressive. Zimbabwe is still reeling from the aftermath of the second wave as reports of a looming third wave trickle in threatening to reverse the gains that have been made. Laxity in following WHO and national precautionary measures can be costly.

What does it mean when a virus mutates?

When a virus replicates or makes copies of itself it changes in various ways called mutations. 

Viruses mutate in different ways as they pass from one person to the next and if different people are affected the virus mutates in many different ways. 

The more it spreads the more it replicates. A virus with one or more mutations is referred to as a, ‘variant’, of the original virus.

According to a health phyisician,  “Viral mutations differ, some may be more transmittable than others, while others may cause severe or less severe disease. This makes it more difficult to control the virus.”

Virus variants from the United Kingdom, Brazil, South Africa and now India have been a source of concern.

The variant  B.1.617 was first detected in October 2020 in India. This variant also nicknamed the, ‘double mutant’, is reported to have a higher transmission and is believed to be one of the factors at work in the recent surge of the coronavirus in India along with the B.1.1.7 variant from the United Kingdom. 

What could have caused the devastating second wave in India?

With a population of 1,4 billion India is a state where measures like social distancing and mask wearing are a prerequisite that should not be overlooked at all costs. 

India threw all caution to the wind and started holding mass gatherings minus COVID-19 precautions that turned into super-sonic COVID-19 spreading events in the country.

Large religious festivals were held in the country. 

Crowded election campaigns took place as the Indian authorities declared key elections in various states. 

In March, more than 130 000 people watched the cricket game between two international cricket teams, India and England at Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat. 

And above all vaccine hesitancy in a country that ironically was exporting vaccines to other states is endemic. 

India begun its vaccination drive on January 16, 2021, but uptake was slower than expected due to a lot of misinformation and biases that led to many shunning the vaccines.

Only 10 percent of the population have received the first dose of the vaccine and only two percent have received the second dose. India is home to one of the top vaccine makers, The Serum Institute Of India.

What the crisis in India means to the rest of the world.

The outbreak of the coronavirus anywhere in the world is a cause for concern because of how we are intertwined in a globalised context. 

The situation in India is a confirmation that all countries must be wary of the resurgence of the disease. 

COVID-19 has had a negative impact on the world and has basically affected how we interact, travel and go about our day to day business. Never have we been this frustrated on a global scale. 

Confronting the coronavirus and instituting measures is the only way to control and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and the only way we can go back to the normal we were accustomed to.It is a joint responsibility. We need to protect ourselves and others by following the necessary precautions and above all getting vaccinated so we can all achieve herd immunity.