The government is obviously doing its job in preventing the fast spread of the Covid virus and this is evident from the fact that community level transmissions have not happened in any noticeable manner. Yet, the Covid figures are climbing, and the need for greater alert is all too obvious. This is time to act fast, and not dither. If things are allowed to slacken here or there, the result would be a longer lock-down period. This would be a perilous proposition for the national economy, which would affect one and all. The Covid has already had devastating effects on day-to-day life especially of the poor and downtrodden.
Questions are raised as to whether India was late in responding to the emerging crisis on the health front. The Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi carried on through weeks in gross violation of the main prescription against Covid spread; namely, social distancing, as also quarantine for those who landed here from abroad. Delegates and preachers from around the globe attended the event and the Government was taken unawares. Had the Government acted in time, the resultant spread on a massive scale could have been avoided.
Speed is of the essence, but there is a serious lack of it. Then there is in needless delay on the part of the Indian establishment to respond to a request from President Trump to “close friend” PM Modi for lifting of recent export restrictions on hydroxyl-chloroquine tablets meant for treatment of Covid related fever. The US was in an emergency situation and an urgent response was expected. The Indian Government sat on the request for three days, until Trump held out a threat of retaliation. Then, India acted and cleared the export. True, local situations needed to be checked about production and availability of the drug. But, nothing justified such a delay for the response in an emergency situation. What transpired was that a Group of Ministers (GoM) was assigned the task of looking into the matter, and they sat over the matter. It would have been gracious on the part of India to have come forward with a quick response.
The Covid spread started from China in December. The government here sat through the situation through January, February and most part of March. Then, the PM came up with a Janata Curfew followed by a three-week abrupt lock-down. Even now, only about 280 of the 736 districts have reported Covid cases but the whole nation is passing through the ordeal which could possibly last more weeks than three.
