Election rallies feed virus surge

NEW DELHI (AP):

Coronavirus cases fuelled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant are rocketing through India, prompting the federal government and states to swiftly reintroduce a string of restrictions.

Night curfews are back. Restaurants and bars are running at half their capacity. Some states have closed schools and movie theatres. Large gatherings are to be downsized.

But India’s political leaders are busy on the campaign trail ahead of crucial state polls, addressing packed rallies of tens of thousands of people, many without masks.

The scenes are strikingly similar to last year’s election season, when the Delta variant ravaged the country and made India one of the world’s worst-hit countries. Some political parties have begun to curtail their campaigns and halt a few rallies, but health experts worry that the lessons learned last year have already been forgotten.

“The highly transmissible Omicron variant chases and catches you. But our politicians are out there to welcome it with a hug,” said Dr T. Jacob John, an Indian virologist. “I fear it is beginning to look a lot like last year.”

A devastating surge of infections tore through India last year. It was partly fed by large crowds at election rallies, where politicians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, often appeared without masks and addressed teeming crowds.

That surge left the country’s health system battered, with people begging for oxygen and hospital beds. Crematoriums ran out of space. Daily deaths crossed 4,000 during the peak of the crisis, with at least 200,000 people dying between March and May, a number widely believed to be a vast undercount.

On Saturday, the health ministry said more than 141,986 cases were reported in the previous 24 hours, nearly a 21 per cent increase from the previous day.

Health experts say increased social contact at packed election rallies is feeding the virus spread.

“The transmission chains that started at the beginning of the year, due to these rallies, will take months to burn out,” John, the virologist, said.

Over the past few weeks, Modi has addressed huge gatherings in several cities, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state which is ruled by his Bharatiya Janata Party. The party’s political opponents have also hit the campaign trail, flouting health guidelines.