Turkey today:
number of tests: 310.420
number of new cases: 62.797
I saw that, and my first thought was to wonder how long it is until she's asked to move on...the BBC is not particularly well regarded in various circles in Turkey.The BBC had Orla Guerin lending her doom tones and emotive political angles to the terrible story of Turkey in the pandemic on the main BBC news the other day, thats how bad its gotten there.
The news from India is terrifying. And that after all the speculation about how the country must have reached some sort of herd immunity as there seemed no other explanation for the dramatic and sustained low numbers of cases over the past several months.
And of course the biggest festival in the world, that'll help.
Kumbh Mela 2021: Over 100 pilgrims, 20 seers test +ve in Maha Kumbh | India News - Times of India
India News: At least 102 pilgrims and 20 seers have tested positive for Covid-19 as religious heads have refused to get tested, wear masks and not follow social dtimesofindia.indiatimes.com
Times of India said:Lakhs of devotees have been gathering for the event on the banks of the River Ganga for a holy dip amid concerns over the surge in Covid-19 cases across the country.
The Kumbh Mela is being held from April 1 to 30 this year.
The state government said that till 6pm, a staggering 13,51,631 devotees [aka 1,351,631! ] had taken a dip on what is considered one of the most auspicious days of the Kumbh.
The news from India is terrifying. And that after all the speculation about how the country must have reached some sort of herd immunity as there seemed no other explanation for the dramatic and sustained low numbers of cases over the past several months.
And of course the biggest festival in the world, that'll help.
Kumbh Mela 2021: Over 100 pilgrims, 20 seers test +ve in Maha Kumbh | India News - Times of India
India News: At least 102 pilgrims and 20 seers have tested positive for Covid-19 as religious heads have refused to get tested, wear masks and not follow social dtimesofindia.indiatimes.com
I think any government would have struggled to tell people not to go to the holiest festival but this current one, Hindu Nationalist to the core, wouldn't have even considered trying.Having this festival during the pandemic is possibly the most insane thing any country has ever done. Trump, Bolsonaro etc are nothing to allowing this to go ahead. I suppose it's such a fundamental part of their culture, I'm unsure they could actually do much to stop it. Hindu's don't view death in the same way as other cultures.
If people don't know the Kumba Mela is huge. A big year, 50 million people gather in one place. Its size varies depending on the year, the big ones are 6 and 12 years apart. There are I think 4 places in India that n accommodate such a gathering. I want to volunteer one year to experience it.
I suppose it's all outdoors? The train home might be the real problem.....
god those weekly jumps in deaths in america seem heartbreaking.
Covid-19 map of the US: latest cases state by state
There have now been more than 68m confirmed cases of Covid-19 across the United Stateswww.theguardian.com
Having this festival during the pandemic is possibly the most insane thing any country has ever done. Trump, Bolsonaro etc are nothing to allowing this to go ahead. I suppose it's such a fundamental part of their culture, I'm unsure they could actually do much to stop it. Hindu's don't view death in the same way as other cultures.
If people don't know the Kumba Mela is huge. A big year, 50 million people gather in one place. Its size varies depending on the year, the big ones are 6 and 12 years apart. There are I think 4 places in India that n accommodate such a gathering. I want to volunteer one year to experience it.
I suppose it's all outdoors? The train home might be the real problem.....
I think any government would have struggled to tell people not to go to the holiest festival but this current one, Hindu Nationalist to the core, wouldn't have even considered trying.
I've been to one, long ago, absolutely mental. You want to "volunteer' as what?
Things are getting grim in India, at the start of March they were reporting an average of just over 15k new cases a day, that's now over 84k, following record of over 100k being recorded on Sunday.
Rijo John, public health policy analyst and senior fellow at the Centre for Public Policy Research in Kerala, said some under-reporting is happening. He told The Lancet that “while it is true that only 21% of all deaths are medically certified in India, we should not forget that more than 65% of the total COVID-19 deaths reported in India so far are from just four states, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Delhi. In all these states, the death registration is 100%.”
The Lancet linky
* India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 entities.
I’m assuming there are things I could do as a non Hindu. Not looked into it. Not sure, could just go. India is amazing.
India’s health system has collapsedLess than 2 weeks later, and the last couple of days they have reported over 200k new cases a day, although adjusted for population that's equal to only 10k a day in the UK, but OTOH they have only carried out under a 10th of the number of tests done per million compared to the UK, so we can assume the true figure is much higher.
When it comes to deaths, they have only recorded 126 per million, but there's massive under reporting and confusion about what the true figure actually is, and there doesn't appear to be any data comparing excess deaths since the start of the pandemic, which would give a better idea of the real situation.
But, with hospitals being overwhelmed in some states, it must be pretty grim.
Add into the mix this so-called "double mutate Indian variant", which has already surfaced in the UK, and is currently designated a “variant under investigation”, but according to reports, is a candidate for becoming a "variant of concern" pretty soon, it's shit all round.
The main difference between 2020 and 2021, doctors I meet on the ground in Maharashtra say, is that younger Indians are being infected, among them children as young as five and three. The mutations may mean that instead of calling this a pandemic borne from the coronavirus, we needed to start using the word “viruses” as this strain(s) is playing out in multiple different ways.
Meanwhile, at crematoriums and graveyards, space runs short and the heart stops. In Ghatkopar, I meet a 95-year-old man in a wheelchair waiting to bid farewell to his wife. Another man, younger, angrier, shouts out. “First there was no space in hospitals, now there is no place at the shamshan ghat… Where should we go?”
India’s health system has cracked under the weight of Covid. We are in a national emergency. The images of the election rallies, the religious congregations, the farmers protests — any mass congregation — is not just idiotic, it is an insult to the doctors at the frontline who say they are “exhausted and worn out”.
More than 800 doctors have already lost their lives to Covid. We claim to respect them and salute them every day. And yet, our utter callousness and the bizarre mixed messaging from our politicians — lockdowns for citizens, rallies for netas — are a criminal affront to every health worker on duty.
As Hemant Deshmukh, dean at Mumbai’s KEM Hospital told me, “Right now, we are discussing shortage of beds and drugs and vaccines. What if we run short of doctors?”
India’s health system has collapsed
APR 17, 2021
“We have collapsed, Maharashtra is sinking and other states will follow.”