分类： bharat

Covid second wave: The cost of lockdowns. The curfews, lockdowns and voluntary shutdowns of factories have already triggered a fresh exodus of migrant workers from the big industrial centres

In his address to the nation on April 20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged states to think of lockdowns as a means of last resort. Within a week, though, faced with a runaway spiral in Covid cases, Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat and Karnataka were forced to do just that, while Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Haryana had to impose night and weekend curfews.

Already reeling from the after-effects of the nationwide lockdown last year, Maharashtra was forced to announce an extension of its calibrated lockdown till May 15. It’s the largest state in terms of GSDP (gross state domestic product) and contributes 14.2 per cent of the national GVA (gross value added). In FY21, the state’s economy contracted 8 per cent in real terms and 5.6 per cent in nominal terms. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economic advisor at State Bank of India (SBI), estimates in a report that the ongoing lockdown will wipe out over Rs 80,000 crore, or 2.7 per cent of the state’s GSDP. Maharashtra’s fiscal deficit was 3.3 per cent of GSDP in FY21—a 15-year high—and the current lockdown is grim news for its industry and services sectors, both of which witnessed a contraction of over 11 per cent last year.

Karnataka, which announced a two-week lockdown starting April 27, stands to lose around Rs 22,000 crore during the period. In the last fiscal, Karnataka’s economy contracted 2.6 per cent. The state’s borrowings in FY22 are estimated to be Rs 71,332 crore—around 33 per cent higher than the pre-pandemic estimate. The additional borrowings were necessitated by the 11 per cent dip in revenue receipts in FY21—Rs 1.6 lakh crore against the projected collection of Rs 1.8 lakh crore—and have nudged up the fiscal deficit from a manageable 2.55 per cent of GSDP to 3.23 per cent.

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the Karnataka High Court order asking the Centre to reconsider its daily liquid medical oxygen (LMO) allocation to the state.

The Centre moved the top court on Thursday against an order of the Karnataka High Court asking it to increase daily oxygen allocation for the state from 965 MT to 1200 MT for treating Covid-19 patients.

“We don’t want to leave the citizens of Karnataka in the lurch. The order of the High Court is a careful, calibrated and judicial exercise of power. We see no reason to entertain the SLP,” said a bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued before the Supreme Court that high courts in the country should not pass orders for “immediate supply” of oxygen in their respective states.

“Oxygen as a resource is not unlimited. We are trying our best to solve the problem. If every High Court starts to pass orders, then it will lead to a complete breakdown of pandemic management,” Tushar Mehta said.

To this, the bench said, “We must understand that judges are also humans. The HC has seen deaths in Chamarajanagar and Kalburgi. They are looking at the human aspect.”

Earlier this week, 24 Covid-19 patients died in Chamarajanagar district hospital allegedly due to oxygen shortage. Seven more patients died in Kalaburagi and Belagavi also.

The apex court also noted that the High Court had passed the order based on the number of cases and projected increase. The court also noted that according to the Karnataka government projections, the per day requirement of oxygen in the state was close to 1800MT, with a “minimum requirement of 1100 MT”.

Justice MR Shah, who is also part of the bench, said, “In this order, the court has gone into all aspects. The court has gone into your norms for oxygen requirement. If there is a problem with supply, you consider it.”

The Supreme Court, however, said it would “direct the setting up of a committee to relook at oxygen allocation”. “There will be a time gap between the orders and the report of the committee,” the court observed.

The bench also raised the question of the allocation of oxygen from distant areas. The Karnataka government had informed the High Court that 30MT of oxygen was allocated from a port where it was unable to pick up the supply.

Taking note of this statement, the SC bench asked the Centre why it was allocating oxygen from distant areas. “We are asking you. What’s the point of allocating quota which will take 48 hours to reach? Are you considering the mapping issues while allotting,” asked Justice Shah.

While daily infections and active cases in Karnataka are rising alarmingly, the fatalities are also mounting.

On Thursday, there were 346 deaths, taking the total deaths so far to 16,884. Bengaluru was the main contributor of Covid-19 cases in Karnataka with 23,106 infections and 161 fatalities on a single day, taking the total infections and deaths to 8,63,380 and 7,006 cumulatively. The city had 3.13 lakh active cases as on Wednesday.

After affecting India’s urban areas, the second wave of Covid-19 is now spreading fast in rural areas. India Today tracked some rural areas in the states of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana to find out what the ground reality is.

Maharashtra

The pandemic has taken firm root in rural Maharashtra. For example, the rural areas of Amravati district are now reporting higher number of cases than urban areas.

According to District Collector Shelesh Nawal, Amravati city on Tuesday registered 249 new Covid-19 cases while the rural areas of Amravati registered 947 fresh cases.

Since January, Amravati city has recorded 504 Covid-related deaths while the rural areas of the district have seen 521 deaths.

The new hotspots of Covid in Amravati are Warud, Achalpur, Morshi, Anjangaon Surji and Tiwasa. The district administration is planning to establish Covid care units in these places.

Similarly, Nagpur district is also witnessing a surge in Covid cases in rural areas. On May 5, there were 36,648 active cases in Nagpur city and 29,568 active cases in Nagpur’s rural areas.

According to health officials, in the 14 tehsils that come under Nagpur distric, there are 112 Covid testing centres. This includes Gramin Hospitals and private labs.

The positivity rate in the rural parts of Nagpur is 18.06 per cent at present. However, after strict measures were taken by the administration, the positivity rate is beginning to decline.

Haryana

Titoli village, situated barely 10 kilometers from Haryana’s Rohtak city, is in a state of panic after 40 people reportedly died due to Covid-19 in ten days.

After Sarpanch Suresh Kumar broke the news, representatives of the district administration and health department rushed to the village. The family members of the deceased are now being tested for the virus.

The villagers have claimed that the real death toll is double what the sarpanch has claimed.

Rohtak sub-divisional magistrate Rakesh Saini said, “People are scared after the deaths in the village. We are encouraging them to get tested for Covid. It will then be clearer whether the deceased were Covid-positive or not.”

Uttar Pradesh

In the large industrial town of Kanpur, there has been a massive spike in Covid-19 cases. On May 5, the city registered a record 67 Covid deaths in 24 hours. However, there are no records from the rural areas. Officials denied access to data from the Kanpur Rural area.

Gujarat

The Gujarat government has imposed night curfew in 36 cities. While the administration is trying to break the chain of transmission in cities, the situation in the villages is terrifying.

There is a severe shortage of doctors and medical personnel in the rural areas of Gujarat.

In the last 20 days, 90 people have allegedly died of Covid-19 in Chogath, a village in Bhavnagar district. This is according to Girjashankar, a retired teacher who performs last rites at the crematorium in the village.

In this village, there is a lack of awareness about Covid-19. Health facilities too are inadequate to deal with the pandemic.