In the past few weeks, India has faced incredible challenges as the nation braced itself for a second wave of COVID-19, with reports of nearly 1 million new cases in three days and several million more gone unreported. Just today, the country reported 412,262 new cases, the highest number of daily cases yet. The country’s healthcare system is at its breaking point; hospitals are running out of oxygen for admitted patients and have reached their capacities, leaving thousands of patients in their homes with no treatment. 

Vaccinations are unable to keep up as cases keep rising, and the lack of safety restrictions are only making things worse. As the condition worsens, the global community is finding ways to support India with donations, but it ultimately falls short of what is needed to fight the second wave. 

“As a resourceful and powerful ally, the United States should be providing immediate aid to India, including vaccine reserves and PPE,” senior Eshaan Basu said.

The international community has begun to send aid to India. In the week of April 25, the UK began sending ventilators, and the United States lifted a ban on raw materials, allowing India to boost the production of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Nevertheless, fighting back against a second wave requires massive cooperation from regular citizens, which some say is lacking in India.

“Modi’s right wing nationalist propaganda has clouded his supporters’ judgement in terms of COVID-19,” senior Ezri Abraham said.

Many attribute the overall lack of preparedness to Prime Minister Modi’s nationlistic agenda, which may have helped breed anti-establishment sentiments similar to President Trump’s supporters in the US. This inevitably led to a lack of faith in COVID-19 regulations among Indians, which clearly had a devastating impact on the nation. 

As many parts of the world begin to recover from COVID-19, India still faces difficult obstacles in the near future. Hopefully the nation will join the path of recovery with the rest of the world soon.