The Roots of Indiaâs COVID Crisis
Much of what has rendered India a disaster zone is the direct result of Modiâs policies. Yet even before Modi, India had deemphasized the importance of investing in public health and vaccine production infrastructure.
Workers refill oxygen cylinders as hospitals face oxygen shortages in Srinagar, India. (Muzamil Mattoo/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The coronavirus pandemic has become a mass death event in India. Over 20 million cases have been recorded in the country since the start of the pandemic, though there is plenty of evidence suggesting this number is much higher. New infection numbers have now surpassed 300,000 a day for weeks, but the numbers reported donât even begin to account for Indiaâs many rural villages, which have received even less attention and support than the cities, or the vast numbers of people who cannot obtain a COVID-19 test in the first place. Hospitals are overflowing, oxygen is almost impossible to find, and people are dying while waiting to be seen by doctors. Apocalyptic photographs of mass funeral pyres and desperate pleas for help circulate on social media, but the actual death toll is unknown. In just one instance, a crematorium in Madhya Pradesh recorded ninety-four bodies cremated in one day, while the government reported just three. Twitter and Facebook have deleted posts critical of the governmentâs response, a move defended by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwa: âIf you make a concerted effort and take fake news and false narration and build that and create panic out of the crisis, every government has a right to control the panic.â