The hospitality sector is arguably the worst hit by pandemic Coronavirus. The occupancy in Delhi hotels is at its lowest. Hoteliers says the slowdown is unprecedented. LokMarg presents a ground report.
Month: April 2020
From Brexit Britain To Bogroll Britain, Lessons For India
India is lagging behind other countries in the spread of the corona pandemic. The virus first crawls in the population, then suddenly moves at supersonic speed. The delay gives India time to learn from other countries and prepare well when the tsunami hits. Perhaps it can learn most from the previous colonial master Britain, which has gone from one leap into the unknown, Brexit, to another, Coronaworld, with little foresight let alone planning.
Britain is nervous. The British are worried about the way the Government is managing this. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has contracted Coronavirus himself and at least five senior doctors at the front line have died from it. Deaths are mounting. Vital medical supplies, masks and ventilators have still to arrive. Meanwhile the British public seemed obsessed with bogrolls (toilet paper) when asked to stay at home. India has the time now to avoid all this mayhem.
Britain had a two month start but did little. China kept the world informed of the progress, the dangers and the epidemic nature of this Covid-19. It locked down an entire region, tested people in hundreds of thousands and built emergency hospitals within a week. Although China had initially kept a lid on this viral disease in December, it realised early on that this was an epidemic. It raised the alarm, got international institutions involved, shared biological and other epidemiological information by mid-January. On 30th January WHO declared Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
ALSO READ: ‘Quarantine Aboard A Ship Was Awful’
China declared quarantine on 23rd January. Britain and USA had the time since then to plan their response. The leaders dismissed it with a cavalier attitude. Whereas China had to start from scratch, the rest of the world had the opportunity to learn from China’s mistakes and experience to set up tests, hospitals ventilators, supply chains for food and lockdown or quarantine procedures.
But both Britain and USA have chosen ‘showmen’ for leaders. Neither Boris nor Trump are leaders who inspire confidence in normal times let alone in a crises. The majority of their populations do not trust a word they say yet voted them in. Populism and a Twitter-limit attitude to political leadership, has now landed the British and American people in a position closer to underdeveloped countries, despite the fact both countries had the money, the skills, the resources to plan for this inevitable calamitous disease.
In contrast, the ever serious Germans, started developing tests for coronavirus in early January and had 4m kits by end of February. Germany started manufacturing and buying new ventilators by late January. German doctors had decided as late as December that this epidemic was going to become a world pandemic, based on previous pandemics. Its administration got into gear even before the disease arrived in numbers in Europe.
ALSO READ: How Tiny Finland Is Fighting Covid-19
In Britain, the section of the population, the elderly, that most rooted for Brexit, are the ones who are likely to be sacrificed by the leaders they voted in as the country struggles to cope with the potential cases. There is a de facto policy that people over 70 and especially 80, are unlikely to be given the full treatment chance with ventilators. There simply aren’t enough to go around as the Government dithered with a boisterous faith in ‘cant touch us’ approach until the devil landed on the door step. Playing gung ho politics with an unseen virus that knows no immigration rules or State boundaries, or border walls is another first for the British and American leaders.
The population saw the leaders were not up to it. It sensed lockdowns. To cope with the fear it went panic buying or as psychologists will not doubt say ‘retail therapy in crises’, to cope with the uncertainty. If the Government could not plan, at least Joe/Jane Public could ‘plan’ his /her supply chain by buying tens of toilet rolls. Britain went from Brexit Britain to Bogroll Britain. What else could joe/jane public do?
Both Britain and America have fumbled. If Brexit had already changed the world’s opinions about bumbling Britain in the Brexit harikiri venture, Britain’s response to this pandemic has confirmed their perspectives about the British State as an incompetent modern phenomenon.
ALSO READ: ‘Doctors Giving Their Best, Public Support Vital’
India can learn a lot from China’s experience and most of western world’s shambolic response. Prime Minister Modi has quickly put the country into a lockdown mode when a few hundred cases surfaced in India. He now has three weeks to plan a strategy that can minimise the infection rate and death toll when the Corona wave rises in India.
The way the Modi lockdown was instituted does not inspire confidence. It is reminiscent of the note bandhi days when the poorest were thrown to the wolves without planning the consequences of a sudden withdrawal of some currency. The daily wage earner, the biggest sector of the employed, suffered the most as their meagre money was no longer able to buy the daily food. Queues and chaos ensued. It could have been foreseen.
ALSO READ: ‘Lockdown Is Fine, But Not Panic Buying’
The lockdown was done in the same way. It should have been possible for any ‘responsible babu’ to have predicted that people will rush to their villages for shelter and food. After all, the Indian ‘babu’ should know the nature of Indian people. The close proximity in buses and other transport has surely not helped. The consequences will become obvious in about three weeks.
Nor did the Prime Minister assure people that a plan was in place to get food to people locked in their houses as shops were also closed. Distributing food seems to have been started as an afterthought in response to the growing unrest that was resulting from mothers of hungry babies and children.
Nevertheless, it was wise to lockdown early rather than late as has happened in Britain and UK. This gives time for the administration to increase production of masks, testing kits, ventilators, emergency facilities and financial support.
There are still two weeks to plan this. The Indian administration, often ridiculed even by Indians, in fact is a genius in planning when forced to. The managements at Khumb mela is a showpiece of Indian management. Two weeks are no challenge to the administration. In fact it is more than enough time for an administration that can outdo the best of world’s management skills. It can also rope in the Army.
The Indian Army with its massive manpower is always deployed in natural disasters. It is a workforce that has always been relied upon during times such as this. It has the ability to build field hospitals, set up testing stations and ensure law and order. Working closely with civil authorities, it can reduce the impact of coronavirus financially and in human toll.
Given the disorganised and often rebellious nature of Indians to administrative authority, and their laid back approach to reporting, the real figures of people infected and deaths due to coronavirus will never be known in India. But with draconian powers and surveillance facilities that the current Government has acquired, it should not be far off the mark, were it to be honest with the statistics.
The administration needs to be applauded for its quick action. It can show countries like America and Britain that democracies can also manage a viral pandemic as efficiently as an authoritarian State such as China. Germany has shown that too. Germans have a reputation for forward planning and taking government as a serious institution unlike much of the rest of west whose populations seem to be focused on celebrity politicians. However Germany is a small country. India has a 15 times larger population.
The coronavirus is India’s test. It is helped partly by the hot weather on the horizon. But a systematic exit from lockdown with test centres, selective isolations, adequate food and other supplies, masks, emergency hospitals and Personal Protection Kits for medical staff will see it triumph and keep the death toll to less than thousand rather than near million mark. For once we can applaud the administration and the Prime Minister to have acted early and decisively.
Indian Talley Of Coronavirus Cases Breaches 2,300-Mark
Even as the nationwide lockdown entered its 10th day, the number of positive cases of coronavirus continued to rise on Friday with India’s tally climbing to 2,301, including 156 cured and discharged and 56 deaths.
The number of cases spiked after several attendees of Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area tested positive for coronavirus. The gathering has emerged as a hotspot for COVID-19 after several positive cases across India were linked to the gathering, including deaths in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.
Maharashtra with 423 COVID-19 positive cases so far reported the highest number of cases in the country followed by Delhi with 384 cases. The number of cases in Tamil Nadu, where over 100 Tablighi Jamaat attendees have tested positive has spiked to 309.
Here’s a quick read on the COVID-19 related news that remained on the boil through the day
- Amid a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to countrymen to light diyas and candles on April 5 at 9 pm to fight the darkness spread by the pandemic. He asked the people to turn off all the lights in their homes and stand at doors or balconies and light candles or diyas, torches or mobile flashlights for 9 minutes on April 5.
- As many as 647 positive coronavirus cases have been reported across 14 states whose linkage can be traced to the Tablighi Jamaat gathering at Nizamuddin, said Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
- Several state governments have continued tracing and identifying all those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event. A large number of people in different states have already been placed under quarantine as a precautionary measure.
- After a rise of 91 cases in last 24 hours, a total of 384 coronavirus positive cases have been found in Delhi till now, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said today.
- Andhra Pradesh confirmed the first death in the state due to coronarvirus. A 55-year-old man, who had died on March 30 tested positive for COVID-19. He had a medical history of diabetes and heart disease. His son had recently returned from Delhi.
- A total of 403 people out of the 1,737 kept at six different quarantine facilities being run by the armed forces have been released after mandatory procedures, the Ministry of Defence said.
- Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against six persons from the Tablighi Jamaat, who were in quarantine at a hospital in the state, for misbehaving with the hospital staff.
- One more coronavirus case was reported from densely populated Dharavi in Mumbai. The patient is a 35-year-old doctor who has tested positive. Earlier, a 56-year-old COVID-positive patient from Dharavi has passed away.
- Union Minister Piyush Goyal announced that Rs 100 crore will be allocated for ideas to combat coronavirus with immediate effect.
- The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare today informed that the total number of coronavirus cases in India has climbed to 2,301, including 156 cured and discharged and 56 deaths. At present, there are 2,088 COVID-19 active cases in the country. (ANI)
PM To Indians: Light Candles On Sunday To Fight Covid-19
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged people to gather together for a unique exercise on April 5 at 9 pm to show they were together in the fight against coronavirus.
“On this Sunday, April 5, we will challenge the darkness of coronavirus threat together. On April 5, at 9 pm, I need your 9 minutes. At 9 pm, turn off all the lights in your houses and light a Diya, candle, torch or flashlight for 9 minutes at your doors, or balcony,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister further said that this will send out a message that nobody among the 130 crore Indians is alone in this fight against the deadly infection.
“I have one more prayer to all of you, nobody has to gather at any place during this event. Everyone will light a Diya only at their doors, windows or balconies. The Laxman Rekha of social distancing must be followed,” Modi said.
Earlier, the Prime Minister had said that 130 crore Indians are together in this fight against coronavirus and praised the countrymen for following the lockdown.
“Today when crores of people are inside homes, then some of us may think how will they fight this battle against COVID-19 alone. Such questions might come up in your mind? But please remember, none of us is alone. The strength of 130 crores of Indians is with each one of us,” he said.
He also expressed gratitude towards countrymen for participating in ‘Janata curfew’ on March 22 and said it has become “an example for all countries” today as they are following it.
In his address to the nation on March 24, the Prime Minister had announced a 21-day lockdown in the country to contain the spread of novel coronavirus, which has infected over 2,000 people in the country.
During the last “Mann Ki Baat” on COVID-19 related issue, the Prime Minister had apologised to the countrymen for taking the tough decision of enforcing complete lockdown in the nation. “My conscience says you will forgive me,” he had said. (ANI)
PM Not Serious On Covid-19, Wants Claps & Candles: Cong
Maharashtra Congress chief and state cabinet minister Balasaheb Thorat on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take the coronavirus crisis in the country more seriously.
“The country is going through a tough time as the numbers of coronavirus cases increase. During such times, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to take some firm policy decisions. It is not the Prime Minister’s job to ask people to clap or light lamps,” Thorat said.
The Congress leader said that it is time that the Prime Minister gets serious about the situation.
“To fight the crisis, doctors, nurses, police and para-medical staff are all working by putting their lives at risk. The need of the hour is to stand firmly behind these people and give them the necessary help,” Thorat said.
“What is required at this time is making an available adequate number of ventilators, increasing the number of testing labs, providing doctors and their staff with PPEs and to provide financial assistance to states to fight this crisis,” he added.
He stated that the leaders should give hope to the general public, announce relief packages for people who have lost their livelihoods amid the crisis.
“After hearing the address, the question that is being raised whether Narendra Modi will behave like a Prime Minister or not? When a country is going through such a crisis, responsible leadership is required, which unfortunately is not there with the BJP or among its leaders,” Thorat said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a video address on Friday morning, appealed to the people to switch off lights and light ‘diyas’ and candles on April 5 at 9 pm for nine minutes. (ANI)
Cases Filed Against Foreign Members Of Jamaat In UP
The Uttar Pradesh Police registered cases against 65 foreign nationals stationed in Saharanpur and Kanpur who attended Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi.
Out of the 65 foreign nationals, 57 were stationed in Saharanpur while 8 were stationed in Kanpur. All foreign nationals are under quarantine.
Dinesh Kumar, SSP, Saharanpur said, “These foreign nationals were staying here and they have been isolated. 20 people from Saharanpur attended the event and they are quarantined in Delhi.”
Besides, eight foreign nationals who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi were picked from a mosque in the Babu Purwa area in Kanpur.
Aparna Gupta, SP (South Kanpur) said, “They have been quarantined and FIR has been registered against them. Further probe is underway.”
Meanwhile, two new COVID-19 positive cases were reported in Jaunpur district on Thursday.
“They both had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi. The total number of cases in the district stands at 3 now,” Dinesh Kumar Singh, District Magistrate, Jaunpur said.
Authorities across states have identified and traced people including Indians and foreign nationals who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz
Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “We have traced 488 people in Assam who had attended Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi, 15 persons are yet to be traced. We have already collected 361 samples (out of 488) to test for COVID19.”(ANI)
Sensex Crashes 1,200 Points On 1st Day Of Financial Year
Equity benchmark indices closed 4 per cent lower on the first day of new financial year (2020-21) as investors remained focused on rising coronavirus infections and its economic impact within and outside the country.
At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 1,203 points or 4.08 per cent to 28,265 while the Nifty 50 tumbled by 344 points or 4 per cent at 8,254.
All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the negative zone with Nifty IT down by 5.4 per cent, private bank by 4.8 per cent, financial service by 3.9 per cent and FMCG by 3.5 per cent.
Among stocks, private sector lenders Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank dropped by 8.6 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively while State Bank of India dipped by 5 per cent.
IT majors too were under pressure with Tech Mahindra down by 9.4 per cent, Tata Consultancy Services by 6.1 per cent, Infosys by 5.8 per cent and HCL Technologies by 4.9 per cent.
The other prominent losers were UPL, Shree Cement and Hindustan Lever. However, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance and Titan traded with a positive bias.
Meanwhile, Asian stocks posted losses while coronavirus pandemic led the multilateral institution IMF to declare a global recession.
Shares in Japan dropped by 4.5 per cent and as a rapid increase in coronavirus infections in Tokyo fuelled speculation the government will place the capital on lockdown.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell by 2.19 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi by 3.94 per cent and Shanghai composite by 0.57 per cent.
A day earlier, Wall Street tumbled with the Dow registering its biggest quarterly fall since 1987 and the S&P 500 its steepest quarterly drop since a decade ago on growing evidence of the massive downturn the pandemic will incur. (ANI)
Tablighi Member Attempts Suicide In Delhi Hospital
One of the persons who had attended an event at Markaz Nizamuddin and was admitted to a hospital here tried to commit suicide on Wednesday.
Hospital admin at Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, Delhi said, “People from Markaz Nizamuddin were admitted on the sixth floor. One of them tried to commit suicide today. We successfully saved him. We are taking all possible measures to tighten the security so that such incidents don’t repeat.”
Meanwhile, the Markaz building in Nizamuddin, where a religious gathering was held after which several COVID-19 positive cases were found among its attendees, was sanitised on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that a total of 2,361 people have been brought out from the Markaz building in Nizamuddin in a joint operation by authorities which lasted 36 hours till 4 am today.
Out of these, 617 have been sent to hospitals while the rest have been sent to different quarantine facilities, he said.
An FIR has been registered against Tablighi Jamaat head Maulana Saad and others under the Epidemic Disease Act 1897.
(ANI)
‘Docs Are Giving Their Best, But Public Support Is Vital’
Dr Neeta Shrivastava, 37, a microbiologist in Mumbai, reveals how health workers keep tough schedule at work and then also manage household chores in the absence of house helps
I am a clinical microbiologist. Which means I handle the team that interprets the details of swab samples from the testing lab to determine whether a person has been infected by Coronavirus or not. A team from the authorised testing labs is present in various hospitals and collects the swab samples of suspect cases.
Our team has been divided into two batches and we have been asked to report to work only on alternate days. This is to ensure that if even a single staff member gets affected, it doesn’t spread to the entire team. These are crucial times and we cannot take any chances.
ALSO READ: ‘Locked Inside, We Are Going Nuts’
Currently, there are only two government and six private labs in Mumbai doing the testing. Every day many people come but not everyone can be tested. It is only recently that Coronavirus test kits became available but as the cases spike we are on the verge of facing a shortage of test kits again.
We collect nearly 20 samples everyday, which are then sent to a lab. It is a time-consuming and a delicate process. Plus, a dangerous one too. We have to be very careful while handling samples. We have to wear PPEs (Personal Protection Equipment) all the time. Our team collects samples through nasopharyngeal swab that goes up the nose far back into the throat and collects mucous, saliva, and bits of cells.
ALSO READ: ‘Life In Quarantine Was Horrible’
The number of Coronavirus cases in Maharashtra has crossed 300-mark (as on April 1) and Mumbai units are handling a major portion of those cases. The doctors here have been giving their best, just like in any part of the world. Dr Rajesh Tope is leading the charge in Mumbai and we have been able to hold fort pretty well in the metropolis. However, it would be helpful if the citizens started listening to an acting upon the guidelines too.
We as frontline workers are scared for ourselves and our families because here is a disease that even the medical fraternity has little clue about. But doctors know how to keep ourselves calm under pressure situations. And the public on its party must understand the urgency and cooperate.
ALSO READ: Pranaam, Corona – Keeping The Virus Away
I have two kids, aged 1 and 7. It is difficult to manage work and home. Plus with the changing guidelines everyday that come from ICMR, WHO etc, means we get very little time to adapt to new situations. People with travel histories to foreign countries should be proactive in getting tested or at least letting the authorities know. Many doctors do back-breaking work at hospitals and then go back home for daily chores too, because the house helps have stopped coming. The medical staff needs to be well-protected and well-supported.
Many heart-breaking videos of doctors not being able to hug their children have been doing the rounds, but I find it difficult to keep away from my one year old girl. She needs me. I make sure I take a thorough bath after I return from the hospital, then I wash everything that I took to work with hot water, and it is only then that I touch my daughter. It is difficult but we will see through this. My 7-year old understands what is going on and cooperates better than many grown-ups.
TikTok India To Provide 4L Medical Protective Suits
TikTok India on Wednesday announced to provide 4 lakh protective hazmat suits for doctors and medical health workers across the country in the wake of novel coronavirus outbreak.
“I would like to confirm that TikTok India will contribute 400,000 protective hazmat suits to keep our doctors and front line medical health workers safe across the country, during the catastrophic time of COVID-19. Under the Prime Minister and your leadership, we are certain that we will come out of this together,” Nikhil Gandhi, Head TikTok, India, wrote in a letter to Textiles Minister Smriti Irani.
“It is indeed an honour and a matter of pride that TikTok India team came together along with your good self and officials of the Ministry of Textiles by working 24×7, to overcome the barriers and logistical nightmares of delivering the suits in India. TikTok India is also humbled to bear the entire cost of Rs 100 crore for the protective suits in service and gratitude to the nation,” the letter said.
Gandhi informed that the first lot of 20,675 suits have arrived today and the second lot of 180,375 suits will arrive in India before April 4.
“Subsequently, in the following weeks, the remaining 200,000 suits will be delivered. We are glad that our teams were able to source them in a dynamically changing market, and in accordance to meet the Ministry of Health and Family welfare standards and guidelines,” the letter read.
(ANI)