Pandemic Worsens as India leads world in COVID-19 infections growth

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The day that a record 90,802 new cases were reported for a single country was yesterday. The next 24 hours report may be worse.

With a population of a little more than 1.35 billion, India is now vulnerable to a calamitous spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes the COVID-19 disease.

India has one doctor for every twelve thousand persons which is one twelfth of WHO suggested “one per a thousand“.

By 2024 or as late as 2026, according to UN Population Division estimates and others, India will be the most populous country in the world. It’s almost there.

India has been overtaking China’s population which has been around 70 million greater than India’s. India’s population growth has been challenged by its government in an attempt to curb overpopulation, hunger and malnutrition in the poorer regions.

by Melissa Hemingway

“Following a timid response to COVID-19 and the recent release from a strict quarantine to invigorate the economy, India has now an explosive surge that puts the country in serious trouble,” says Fred Harris, a  biostatistician at the Civil Society COVID-19 tracking project.

“India is nowhere near the peak and is barely able to cope with the outbreaks in the major cities. I perceive that initially India ignored the small pockets of infections which have now spread to even the northern Pradesh’s like a California wildfire,” he added.

India surges ahead of Brazil in cumulative numbers of COVID-19 Infections “India surges ahead of Brazil in cumulative numbers of COVID-19 Infections,” says biostatistician at the Civil Society COVID-19 tracking project.
Art/Cropping/Enhancement: Rosa Yamamoto / Feminine-Perspective Magazine

“Uttar Pradesh, the most populous province of India, has 253,175 cumulative cases and has reported 3,762 deaths. The current surge is seriously challenging healthcare resources,” Harris added pointing out that India’s mortality surveillance system is among the world’s weakest.

“People are dying before the ambulance arrives.”

Doctor Anderson of The RINJ Foundation has been critical of  the “Narendra Modi government’s propensity to adopt witch-doctoring.”

“Traditional herbal medicines were maybe OK nine hundred years ago for removing warts if they removed warts without killing or harming the patient, but today only a medical science-based approach is relevant to COVID-19 and the SARS-CoV-2 virus, unless you happen to be a bat which has somehow learned to suppress this virus maybe for hundreds of centuries. Melissa, Narendra Modi is no bat but he sounds batty,” said the good doctor.

This jab likely refers to Modi’s insistence that Indians use a homeopathic blend of herbs and other medically-off-track ideas in conjunction with washing hands, the latter of which is a good idea.

We all know cow dung is very helpful. Likewise, when cow urine is sprayed, it purifies an area. I believe something similar could be done with cow urine, cow dung to cure #coronavirus: Assam BJP MLA Suman Haripriya — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 2, 2020

Spike in cumulative COVID-19 Cases in India May not tell the story of all provinces Spike in cumulative COVID-19 Cases in India May not tell the story of all provinces. Photo Credit: YouTube Video Capture 09/06/2020 Art/Cropping/Enhancement: Rosa Yamamoto / Feminine-Perspective Magazine

Cumulative cases surge in India Cumulative cases surge in India. “India surges ahead of Brazil in cumulative numbers of COVID-19 Infections,” says biostatistician at the Civil Society COVID-19 tracking project.
Art/Cropping/Enhancement: Rosa Yamamoto / Feminine-Perspective Magazine

“India’s COVID-19 death count (*71711) is completely unreliable. Lowest estimate is 168,345, but some local statisticians have pegged the number of infection-deaths at over 1.5 million.” says biostatistician Harris at the Civil Society COVID-19 tracking project.

In the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, India reported its first case at the end of January but had begun a comprehensive surveillance on 17 January.

At the beginning of July, Ipchita Bharali, Preeti Kumar, and Sakthivel Selvaraj writing for the Brookings Institute Blog urged the following steps to be taken by the government of India.

“Increase testing capacity. India can do this quickly by harnessing the capacity of the private sector for laboratories, test kits, and supplies. But the government will also have to increase the density and capacity of test sites and laboratories and improve procurement and supply chains. India’s domestic PPE kit production has been a great success story, which provides reasons for optimism.

“Assist poor workers. Steps to help poor migrant workers include programs offered by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation in their 2017 report. These policies include provision of affordable housing, emergency employment schemes, and access to social entitlements and service provisions. The recent announcement on provision of essential food supplies to 800 million people is a step in the right direction.

“Maintain regular health services. Maintain essential critical health services and disease programs to avoid a resurgence of vaccine preventable diseases, infectious diseases, and chronic illnesses. Both the central and state governments should look to expand strategic investments and partnerships with the private sector, development partners, and community health workers to strengthen surge capacity and ensure continuity of health provision.

“Enforce emergency measures. Enforce sensible social distancing, effective quarantine procedures, mandatory mask-wearing and hand hygiene habits, along with improved detection, containment, and mitigation.

“Enable responsible monitoring. Introduce and ensure national data privacy laws to improve India’s health emergency response and safeguard against data privacy concerns.”

 

Deaths from COVID-19 in India expected to climb to an atrocious rate by December A cavalier attitude in India when the world reported outbreaks and India was slow to become infected. Deaths are now predicted to lead the world by December as the largest surge in the world occurs across India’s 1.35 Billion People. Photo Credit: YouTube Video Capture 09/06/2020 Art/Cropping/Enhancement: Rosa Yamamoto / Feminine-Perspective Magazine

India is not alone. Global Cumulative COVID-19 cases and the commensurate deaths have been climbing like a fast elevator.

 

COVID-19 Top 25 Most Infected Nations
(Only valid for 2020-09-07 10:32 GMT. See 3 Dec 2023 Report for latest.)

Nation (25/232)CasesDeathsRecovered
United States64604211932533726099
India4208645*71711/1683453250429
Brazil41376061266863317227
Russia103069017871843277
Peru68997729838515039
Colombia66652121412518229
South Africa63851714889563891
Mexico63402367558442268
Spain49898930730150376
Argentina4787929859349132
Chile42251011592394399
Iran38665822293333900
United Kingdom34950541640_
France3472673073087927
Bangladesh3251574479221275
Saudi Arabia3206884081296737
Pakistan2989036345286016
Turkey2798066673251105
Italy27763435541210015
Iraq2603707512198560
Germany2517249401227000
Philippines2373653875184687
Indonesia1941098025138575
Ukraine138068287762606
Canada1338909193118190
  1. *”Death Count (*71711) in India is completely unreliable. Lowest estimate is 168,345, but some local statisticians have pegged the number of infection-deaths at over 1.5 million.” says biostatistician at the Civil Society COVID-19 tracking project. 
  2. Sources
  3. Data Report History