No fatigue, please

India took 170 days, which is about five months and three weeks, to reach one million COVID-19 cases. However, the last million cases emerged in just eleven days. The average number of cases per day has spiralled from 62 in April, to more than 87,000 per day in September (“Kerala tops Indian states with more active COVID-19 cases,” Sept 26, Gulf Today).

A million samples are being tested every day and more than 50 million Indian have been tested for COVID-19 hitherto. Yet, this is one of the lowest testing rates globally. In early May, the recorded cases were 52,000; however, a  government study indicated that there were 6.4 million infections based on random antibody tests.

Currently India is garnering the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases globally. The situation is grim. Many people are fatigued staying home and are relaxing protocols like masking, distancing, etc.  A former boss of mine, Mr. Alex Abraham, recently wrote an article, advocating the simple “WMD” weapons to fight COVID-19. WMD stands for “Washing, Masking and Distancing.” I strongly urge the WMD weapons to fight COVID-19.

India is at a critical stage in the COVID-19 fight. Fr those ignoring COVID-19 protocols, it will be useful to remember that one-third of UK has gone into lockdown again. Fines from 1,000 to 10,000 pounds are being imposed for not adhering to protocols. If we relax on the preventive protocols, we could get overwhelmed by the disease. We are at the cusp of an improvement in the situation or serious deterioration, depending on the care we exercise.

Rajendra Aneja — Mumbai, India