5 May 2021

Currently India has 20.7 million Covid 19 cases and 226,188 deaths. These 2 figures are surging as shown on the 2 charts below. The daily Covid 19 cases is around 400,000 and daily death toll is more than 3,000.

In the past several weeks, the world has looked on in horror as the coronavirus rages across India. With hospitals running out of beds, oxygen and medicines, the official daily death toll has averaged around 3,000 and the daily number of Covid cases is about 400.000. Many claim that number could be an undercount; crematoriums and cemeteries have run out of space.

The majority of India’s population are Hindu, who favour cremation as a way of disposing of the body. Here is a photo from Delhi showing workers and relatives taking part in cremations.

India has seen more Covid cases in the last seven days than any other country. People have died waiting for beds, as oxygen supplies run low and hospitals buckle under the strain. Now crematoriums are also running out of space, with some operating non-stop and workers saying they haven't had a break from performing last rites. In Hinduism, cremation is traditionally the most important part of the funeral rites because Hindus believe the body must be destroyed to force the soul to separate from it.

In the Indian capital Delhi, workers have been forced to build makeshift funeral pyres, with parks and other empty spaces being utilised for cremations.

Authorities have reportedly cut down trees in city parks to use as firewood.

Families have had to wait hours before being allowed to cremate their dead and have also been asked to help with cremations by piling wood and assisting in other rituals.

Political Rallies Contributed to an Increase in COVID-19 Cases in India

In the backdrop of the terrible human tragedy unfolding in India, a fierce debate is playing out in the media: Did political rallies contribute to the tsunami of COVID-19 cases that has overwhelmed the rickety healthcare system since the middle of April 2021?

The answer seems obvious. Large gatherings of people without masking and physical distancing, no matter the purpose of the gathering, can transmit the virus that causes COVID-19.

Political rallies in all the five states that witnessed assembly elections in the last few weeks were large gatherings of people. Newspaper reports and TV coverage of these rallies provide overwhelming visual evidence that masking and physical distancing were almost completely ignored. Therefore, it seems extremely likely that these events contributed to the rapid transmission of the virus and the subsequent rise in the number of COVID-19 cases.

India President Modi should realise that this Covid pandemic will continue to affect the nation for a long time. Most likely India will soon be the poorest nation in the world.

Covid catastrophe could be avoided if politicians considered human lives more important than winning an election.