COVID-19 Report 2021

India has seen a sudden surge in the number of covid cases since March 15, 2021. Three states, namely Maharashtra, Kerala, and Karnataka have crossed the 1 million mark. Starting April 14, the Maharashtra government has imposed Section 144 and Janta Curfew for the next 15 days (8 pm to 7 am).

In the persistent fight against Covid, about 6.7% of our total population has already been vaccinated. India has even exported over 5.8 crore doses of vaccine to 70 countries. However, lack of equitable synchronization between the centre and state governments and improper handling of vaccines in a few states has led to wastage of a large number of doses.

Based on the potential availability of vaccines, the Government of India has selected priority groups who will be vaccinated on priority as they are at higher risks. The first group includes healthcare and frontline workers. The second group to receive the COVID-19 vaccine are persons over 60 years of age and persons between 45 and 59 years of age with comorbid conditions. Persons with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection will defer vaccination for 14 days after symptoms resolution to avoid further spread of the virus.

After September 2020, the covid graph had been on a negative slope, giving the market time to recover. The second wave, however, has led to one of the worst downfalls of the stock market. Sensex went down by 3.44% around 11 April 2021 with trending memes of ‘Bloody Monday’ and it is still descending. Lockdown has been one of the major reasons for the mismatching of demand and supply which later led to the market downfall. Currently, the major concern for the market is if there will be another lockdown.

Meanwhile, the Kumbh Mela has begun. During the last Kumbh at Haridwar, around 70 lakh devotees turned up, whereas this time the government is expecting 10 lakh people, on normal days and around 50 lakh people on auspicious days during the Kumbh festivities.

Safety conditions for events like callous campaigning for Bengal elections and offline conduction of 10, 10+2 board exams have been adding fuel to the fire. In a big decision, dated April 14, the Government has decided to cancel CBSE class 10 exams and postpone class 10+2 board exams.

A few states have already imposed night curfew to control the situation but the question remains, is it really enough?

References: Uttarakhand tourism, Ministry of Health and family welfare, GOI, TOI, YouTube