Mrs.Sonia Gandhi,
President,
Indian National Congress,
24, Akbar Road,
New Delhi-100 011
Dear Mrs. Gandhi,
Sub: A (HINI) virus toll continues to climb-regarding
As I write the N (HINI) virus toll climbed to 77 as 186 persons contracted the infection this Monday.
So, the problem hasn’t abated, rather it continues to haunt the country.
Parents of children of school-going lot are the most worried.
Schools are not functioning in most cities; the empty schools also cause problems for managements.
As for the Centre and the States, there are still many greasy areas and I am worried the Centre must become still more active.
The Hon’ble Minister Shri Gulam Nabi Azad has done very commendable job, he faced the TV cameras and calmly and coolly answered all queries from worried public.
This is the best performance from a minister so far.
The purpose of this letter is that the Centre must activate the state governments, most state health ministers seem to be fully unaware of the whole i9mplications of this deadly virus and what it could do to damage the health of the country.
Now, I want to request you to alert the government. The Prime Minister and the Finance Minister must allocate more funds so that more testing kits, test labs are established and clearer guidelines are given to the public, where to go first. The private hospitals and labs are still not under the guidelines, the fees are not made clear to the public etc.
The most important point is that there must be daily briefing on the virus and its developments.
There must be daily newspaper ads assuring the public about what is being done and where to turn in emergency.
In the USA where it started sometime ago, now is the ending of the holiday season and so now there would be more discussion about this virus.
The latest PTI report from Washington says that HINI could kill 90,000 in US alone!
This frightening, to say the least.
So, what is the future course of this virus likely now?
There could be two million people needing more hospitalisation in the US, says the PTI report. And 30,000 to 90,000 will have died and 1.5 lakh to 3 lakhs needing ICUs.
Is India prepared for a possible spread of this deadly pandemic?
There has to be higher level discussion in the government, the Cabinet must meet and make some hard decisions.
It is a bit distressing to see that no more news is forthcoming from Delhi.
Also, a bit more irritating the PM talks of something, economic growth, and the FM talks something else.
Is this the time to be so insensitive to the feelings of the ordinary people over an issue that keeps the families and corporate offices in such great distress?
I might have sounded a bit more uncomfortable than what I should in such situations but I am only conveying the atmosphere that prevails in Bangalore.
With regards,
V.Isvarmurti
Image Source: medanku.com