Our Take
Seldom before has Delhi’s air been more febrile with the pandemic as has turned out to be the case now, or through what is currently being called as the second spate of the COVID-19 scourge. With 11,496 positive cases for Corona virus detected in 24 hours on Baisakhi, or the local New Year’s Day, eve that falls today – April 13 — the possibility of a fresh lockdown has not been ruled out in the Capital city. A night curfew is already on and there are day time restrictions in place to do away with large gatherings of people at public places but the pathogen’s positivity rate has only been increasing. There have been as many as 72 deaths due to the virus on Monday alone. The positivity rate has reached 12.44 per cent and there has been a seven per cent increase in this between Sunday and Monday alone. The previous day there were 10,774 positive cases. So another 722 were added up in a single day. This threatens to bring Delhi close to what is the case with the countrywide surge where the previous or last year’s wave has been surpassed this time. And if the 2020 surge took months to swell, this year it has been so within weeks. So there are all the potential signs of Delhi lapsing into another round of lockdown. This Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is said to be considering. He has already appealed to the Central Government to either cancel or suitably postpone CBSE examinations scheduled to be held from the beginning of the next month and go up to June. Over half-a-million students from the Capital alone appear in these examinations and there are widespread apprehensions about these becoming a potential source of spreading the pandemic further as students may end up milling around the examination centres. But besides this, there are few other events that are going on undeterred by the pandemic. The farmers stir at multiple entry points at Delhi’s borders has been on since November last year with little signs so far of getting resolved. Similarly, a large congregation of devotees has gathered at Hardwar, which is about two hours drive away from Delhi, for Kumbh Mela. Some of these devotees are said to be from Delhi and their return may bring a threat to the Capital as COVID cases are being reported to be rising through the month-long event currently on at Hardwar.
Besides this, it is otherwise also a season of festivities. The twin fasting events of Ramazan and Navaratri have begun almost simultaneously this time. The latter is going to end after nine days of fasting with the observance of Ramnavami and at the month-long Ramazan fasting will bring Id. These festivals invariably lead to heightened human activity and, thus, need to be observed with caution and requirements like social distancing in view of COVID-19. So the season is fraught with risks where only greater civic sense can avert further spread of the pandemic. As for the Government these times have also brought elections in four States and a Union Territory where large gatherings of people have been the order of the day as a part of the electioneering. This has also triggered a palpable fear about the pandemic taking a turn for the worse. The only way to counter it is extreme restraint with stepped up precautions and rapid vaccination of vulnerable sections of the population. The sooner the Government and people realize this, the better.
