Infections have surged in India since February in a disastrous turn blamed on more contagious variants of the virus as well as government decisions to allow massive crowds to gather for Hindu religious festivals and political rallies before state elections.
The reported caseload is second only to that of the U.S., which has one-fourth the population of India but has recorded over 32 million confirmed infections. The U.S. has also reported more than 2 1/2 times as many deaths as India, at close to 580,000.
India’s top health official, Rajesh Bhushan, refused to speculate last month as to why authorities weren’t better prepared. But the cost is clear: Many people are dying because of shortages of bottled oxygen and hospital beds or because they couldn’t get a COVID-19 test.
NEW DELHI â COVID-19 infections and deaths are mounting with alarming speed in India with no end in sight to the crisis and a top expert warning that the coming weeks in the country of nearly 1.4 billion people will be âhorrible.â
Indiaâs official count of coronavirus cases surpassed 20 million May 4, nearly doubling in the past three months, while deaths officially have passed 220,000. Staggering as those numbers are, the true figures are believed to be far higher, the undercount an apparent reflection of the troubles in the health care system.
The country has witnessed scenes of people dying outside overwhelmed hospitals and funeral pyres lighting up the night sky.
Infections have surged in India since February in a disastrous turn blamed on more contagious variants of the virus as well as government decisions to allow massive crowds to gather for Hindu religious festivals and political rallies before state elections.
The reported caseload is second only to that of the U.S., which has one-fourth the population of India but has recorded over 32 million confirmed infections. The U.S. has also reported more than 2 1/2 times as many deaths as India, at close to 580,000.
India’s top health official, Rajesh Bhushan, refused to speculate last month as to why authorities weren’t better prepared. But the cost is clear: Many people are dying because of shortages of bottled oxygen and hospital beds or because they couldn’t get a COVID-19 test.
Monash Lens
They’re often referred to as creatures of the night – linked to vampires in European folklore – and were misleadingly associated with the spread of COVID-19 last year.
Wong Zhi Hoong
Head of Department, Malaysia Immersion Hub
Because of their nocturnal lifestyles and cave-dwelling tendencies, bats are among the world’s most misunderstood animals. They often receive negative attention and Halloween associations in modern media. There’s even a condition for it – chiroptophobia, or the fear of bats.
But while these flying mammals are predominantly associated with death and darkness in the West, they’ve historically enjoyed a more diverse representation in many parts of the East, where they’ve come to be associated with a wide range of cultures, folklore, and customs that are largely positive in nature.