Delhi’s Covid crisis

Caught off guard yet again, the Delhi Government has imposed a six-day lockdown in a desperate attempt to tackle the resurgence of coronavirus cases in the national capital. Almost every third sample is turning out to be Covid-positive, even as the daily caseload has gone past 25,000. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claims that Delhi has withstood three waves of the pandemic and would deal successfully with the fourth one as well. His optimism belies the bitter fact that Delhi’s healthcare system repeatedly came under severe strain last year and has now practically crumbled amid the alarming surge in cases. On Sunday, Kejriwal sent a belated SOS to PM Narendra Modi and Union Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal, pleading them to ramp up bed capacity in Central government-run hospitals and ensure uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen. The CM informed them that less than 100 ICU beds were available in Delhi and there was an acute shortage of oxygen in the city’s hospitals. Central and state governments must explain why they didn’t do the needful at the right time to prevent the meltdown.

It would be naïve to expect that the lockdown would break the chain of transmission and give the authorities breathing space to get their act together. Even the CM has admitted that the lockdown is no solution. What’s worse, the restrictions may hamper the movement of people who wish to get themselves tested or vaccinated. Past experience should have spurred the state government to be well prepared for the worst by making adequate provision for hospital beds, medical equipment and oxygen. The blame game between the AAP dispensation and the BJP-ruled civic bodies is a pointless exercise that is rubbing salt into the wounds of Delhi’s hapless residents.

It’s been almost a year since Delhi Police constable Amit Kumar, hailing from Haryana, succumbed to Covid-19 after a couple of hospitals failed to give him timely treatment. Unfortunately, nothing has changed on the ground after his untimely death as frontline workers as well as ordinary people continue to fall prey to official apathy and mismanagement in the Capital.