The great pandemic: A longish update
First, the numbers: We sped past the 400K mark for the second time with 412,095 daily cases. The number of daily deaths was the highest ever: 3,971. One in every two new cases in the world is in India. Small mercies: Leading virologist Gagandeep Kang expects the second wave to ebb at the end of the month.
Also testing positive: Two members of the Indian delegation who are in London to attend the Group of Seven meeting. All face-to-face meetings with Indian attendees—including the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar—have now been cancelled, and will be conducted virtually. This is mostly a PR disaster as the story made national headlines in the UK—and seals India’s image as an out-of-control Covid hotspot. A source told The Telegraph: “It’s very embarrassing… Maybe they caught it on the flight coming to London — that is why they are tested two days after arrival.”
In better global diplomacy news: The US has announced its support to temporarily suspend patent rights for vaccines—to significantly help ramp up production in developing countries. CNBC has that story.
Hotspots to note: Jammu and Kashmir has recorded a 700% spike in cases in a month. And Bangalore recorded a 55% positivity rate on Monday—i.e. more than half of those tested show up as positive. Mercifully, it has since dropped to 33%.
About that third wave: K Vijay Raghavan—India’s principal scientific advisor said at a press conference: “A third wave is inevitable - given the variants - but we do not know when it will come, we do not know what the scale will be. We have to be prepared." He added: “There is, however, no clear time-line on when this third phase will occur.” The Hindu has more.
About those variants: The union government has finally admitted that the second wave is linked to the spread of variants—but insists that “the epidemiological and clinical correlation of B.1.617 and the surge is not ‘fully established’.” It also noted that the ‘double mutant’ variant is emerging as dominant, while cases linked to the UK variant are slowing down. Point to remember: we simply don’t have enough epidemiological data to make any meaningful claims about variants.
Speaking of current horrors: This is how terrible things are in our country. One: Bereaved families have to shell out more money for cremations in Ludhiana due to the spike in LPG gas cylinder prices. Two: The Delhi Jal Board has informed the Supreme Court that it is facing an acute water shortage—and will have to cut supply to the city’s hospitals. Three: In Gurgaon, six patients who died of lack of oxygen were left unattended in a locked ICU. The hospital staff were “hiding in the canteen” from the families. See the heart-wrenching clip here.
Another kind of horror: A new report shows that the first wave pushed the income of 23 crore families below the daily minimum wage of Rs 375. The Telegraph has more details.
Not helping at all: The government held a 90-minute-long virtual workshop—presided over by the Information & Broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar—titled ‘Effective Communications’ for the top brass. The aim: help participants “create a positive image of the government”, manage “perception through effectively highlighting positive stories and achievements”, and making the government “be seen to be sensitive, bold, quick, responsive, hard-working etc.” Hindustan Times has the scoop on the gyaan shared at this critical meeting.
Also not helping: Uttar Pradesh’s plan to set up help desks for cows in every district. Part of this plan: All cow shelters will also be equipped with all the medical equipment such as oximeters and thermal scanners. Very related read: New York Times’ deep dive into why we’re losing so many people due to oxygen shortage.
A shameful digital divide: Techies are hacking the CoWin platform by writing software codes that help them jump on open appointments the moment they become available. And then they put them out on Telegram so PLUs can take advantage of their gyaan. Of course, most Indians have zero access to CoWin or to those clever enough to hack it. Speaking of divides, Fuller Project has an excellent read on the pandemic’s disproportionate effects on women. Also a good vaccine-related read: Dinesh Thakur in Stat News on how the government’s ineptitude may be costing lives not just in India, but also around the world:
“Instead, the government waited until after aid dollars and advance payments financed the scale-up of SII’s manufacturing facilities to meet the demand from COVAX and other countries before stepping in and stopping exports to low-income countries that had been assured equal access to vaccines by the COVAX organizers. In essence, India is ‘stealing’ vaccines meant for low-income countries for its own use.”
About those facemasks: Scientists have found dangerous chemical pollutants in disposable masks—including lead, antimony, and copper, within the silicon-based and plastic fibres. (Mint)
Covidiots alert: One: Employees of a pharma company in Indonesia were caught reusing nasal swabs for Covid tests. How bad this is: They reused swabs from 150 kits nearly 20,000 times. Two: The CSI church held its annual retreat in Munnar with 350 priests and deacons in attendance. Of them, 110 have tested positive, and two have died. Three: Hundreds of women in Gujarat participated in a ‘kalash yatra’—and 23 people have since been arrested, which given the clip below is negligible:
Israel can’t elect a damn government
The fourth general election in two years has resulted once again in a deadlock (we explained this insanity here). PM-elect Benjamin Netanyahu has failed to form a government—since his far-right allies refused to join forces with Arab parties. What this means: Netanyahu will stay in power (as he has for the past two chaotic years) as the ‘interim’ PM until a winning alliance stakes its claim, or the nation goes back to the polls for the fifth time. (New York Times)
Death of a great Christian leader
The longest-serving bishop in India—Philipose Mar Chrysostom, the patriarch of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church—died yesterday at the ripe old age of 103. Indian Express explains why he was so beloved, and why his death is a great loss. A delightful read: Nidheesh MK’s interview in Mint from back when he turned 100.
An astonishing childbirth feat
Twenty-five-year old Halima Cisse in Mali has given birth to nine babies—five girls and four boys! She is now part of a rarefied club of mums who have delivered ‘nonuplets’. The good news: both mom and babies are doing well. The Guardian has more on the birth that has caught the attention of an entire nation.
Speaking of kids: Meghan Markle has unveiled a new illustrated children’s book called ‘The Bench’—which is all about fathers and sons, especially Harry & Archie. BBC News has more details. A sample image below:
Five very weird things
One: The CIA’s hilarious recruitment ad. Well, the world’s most famous intelligence agency is going all ‘woke’ in its effort to increase diversity amongst its ranks. And most amusingly, it’s making no one happy. The conservatives are furious at the “liberal takeover,” while the liberals are rolling their eyes with scepticism. Jezebel has that point of view. The Guardian has the uproar on the right. And here’s the ad that’s making everyone crazy:
Two: Peak NFT insanity. A crypto guru and a modelling agent burned a very valuable piece of art—in a champagne bucket, no less—just so they could turn it into a digital NFT. Page Six has this crazy (are they high?) story. The photo is below. And if you don’t understand wtf an NFT is, here is our explainer. (h/t founding member Ramanand Mundkur)
Three: President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, took a photo with ex-prez Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn. The result is worse than any drunken party pic you may have ever taken. The proportions are so insane that they make the Carters look like munchkins. PopSci explains how you can avoid similar disasters (hint: it has everything to do with wide-angle lenses). And the bizarre photo is below:
Four: A motorcycle airbag vest by a company called Klim. This one includes a small black box with sensors—which tells the vest to inflate like an airbag in case of a crash. But here’s the catch. You first pay $400 for the vest, then another $400 for the black box—or opt for a $12/month subscription system. Now, here’s the really weird, ok creepy part: If you miss or forget to make a payment, that $400 vest will just stop working… and will just let you die? Whoa! Vice has more on this capitalism-gone-amok story. FYI, this is what the overpriced, life-gouging vest looks like:
Five: Identified flying objects. Folks in the state of Washington saw strange UFO-like lights in the night sky. They turned out to be 60 Starlink satellites launched by SpaceX. See the strange sight below:
