Second Wave of COVID-19 Sweeps India

A COVID-19 vaccination drive in Jalandhar, India (Wikimedia Commons).

India, a country with a population of 1.35 billion people, had been witnessing a steady decline in COVID-19 cases since September 2020. However, India is now recording 200,000 daily cases amid a second wave of the pandemic. While the cause of this sudden spike is uncertain, a double mutation strain, poor political decisions, and complacency by the general population are among the factors to blame. 

Strains of the double mutation coronavirus, the B.1.617 variant, have been found in 10 states in India. According to research, a double mutation is a type of strain in which two different virus strains come together to form a third. The newly discovered double mutation in India is a result of the combination of the E484Q strain and the L452R strain. While there is no direct causation between the spike in cases and the rate of infection of the double mutation as of yet, the start of the sudden rise in cases can be correlated to the mutation’s discovery. 

Another potential factor of the rise in cases may be complacency amongst the Indian population. With the clear decline in the virus’s intensity, eased lockdown measures, and the vaccine’s introduction, people started to take the pandemic less seriously. This attitude was showcased when hundreds of thousands of devotees gathered on the banks of the Ganges in the holy city of Haridwar to celebrate the Kumbh Mela, an annual Hindu festival. There were no social distancing or mask guidelines in place. Within less than 48 hours of the festival’s commencement on April 12, more than 2000 people tested positive for COVID-19. 

Political parties in India have also shown complacency through their aggressive legislative assembly election campaigns being held in the state of West Bengal. With nearly four phases of the eight-phase election left, none of the rallies organized by the three major political parties adhered to the safety protocols provided by the Election Commission of India. According to the recently gathered data, West Bengal has witnessed 5,892 new cases and 24 deaths between April 14 and April 15. Political rallies there still continue to violate safety guidelines. 

With health care infrastructure collapsing, the worst-hit states like Maharashtra, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh have introduced fresh lockdown measures, and the Central Board of Secondary Education has cancelled and postponed 10th- and 12th-grade examinations. Meanwhile, India has launched a vaccine campaign aiming to inoculate 300 million of the country’s 1.35 billion population by July. So far, more than 111 million vaccine doses have been provided, out of which 13 million are second doses.