Petition for the 3rd Wave

Covid is spreading once again across the country. The news bulletins are once again reeling out statistics for different states on daily positivity rate, the hospital admissions, the number of people on the ventilator and the figures of whose who did not recover to live life again. Again there could be long lines at hospitals, morgues, burial grounds and crematoriums. 

It is like being churned inside out mentally, emotionally and physically again and again. Maybe we are slightly better prepared this time to face this wave. A fair number of the adult population is vaccinated and vaccinations are being opened to 15-18 year olds. There are booster doses now announced, although who is eligible for them and who eventually gets them is anyone's guess.

Omicron, (that is what this version of covid is called) is being currently described as extremely contagious but with lower hospitalization and fatality rates. But that still does not augur well for the health infrastructure to cope with even if a small percentage of population does require hospitalization.

The answer to the question of how to remain safe and protected remains much the same- social distancing, masking and avoiding crowded places. I started this petition in 2021 in the 2nd Covid wave where I had requested the authorities to ensure #NoMassEvents

Yet it seems we have not learnt our lessons. While there are night curfews, offices closed on weekends or working at reduced capacity, yet at the same time there are super-spreader events in the form of election rallies happening in different states.

These election rallies are happening with droves of people attending them with no masks. There is no checking for masks worn nor any testing for infection either. Ironically the ones attending those rallies are usually those at the bottom of the pyramid and the ones who will have minimal access to healthcare. Why should they pay the price of insensitivity in the conduct of public events. 

I am therefore raising my voice and requesting for your support for this campaign once again. We simply cannot afford to be careless or callous because our health and safety has now become the responsibility of every right minded citizen of this country. 

Therefore, I hope you will sign my petition and share it with others. We have a greater chance of winning and securing our safety if we stand united against the 3rd wave. Sign and Share #NoMassEvents. 

Petition for the 2nd Wave

The resurgent wave of COVID-19 has hit India really hard.  As a law-abiding citizen, I do everything as per medical and official advice regularly put out in public domain. We wear our masks, stay indoors and regularly sanitize our hands. Yet I am told in my own building there are at least 5 households affected among 64 flats. Today an average Indian is scared of even a chance encounter in the corridor, lift, what to talk of going outside to buy essential supplies. There is not even the comfort that you can step inside a hospital to get medical care, because the hospitals are overflowing with the sick, beds are unavailable, oxygen cylinders are in short supply and medical professionals are fatigued and overwhelmed. 

Despite the experience of the last year, why is COVID rapidly spreading? It is because the Indian public did not take the pandemic seriously.  In some states we have Section 144 enforced, night curfews and even limited lockdowns to limit the spread. But in some other states, we are callously allowing mass gatherings for elections and religious festivals. Sign my petition.

A pandemic does not recognize international, national or state borders and such gatherings are only hotspots of mass spread with a sureshot prediction of rapid community transmission. My two very questions to the political and administrative establishment are:

-Can our economic and health infrastructure cope with the mass spread of COVID?-Do the health and economic well-being of lakhs of people mean nothing?

We are not talking about a couple of lives, we are talking of millions of lives lost and a  total collapse of our health and economic backbone. Can we afford this? If the answer is no then:-

My heartfelt appeal to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Election Commission of India to disallow all mass public gatherings including religious events and political rallies until COVID cases subside.

If the MHA issues a directive, no citizen will dare flout it. If the EC passes an order, no political party candidate contesting any election (state, by-polls, municipal or panchayat) will dare lock horns with it. Those who flout their orders, should be penalised as per rule of law.

This is not my petition, this is the petition of every Indian who has lost a family member and is scared of losing another. This is the petition of every Indian who is struggling to meet basic ends  and has no money to even get 2 square meals a day forget about getting medical help. 

My fellow Indian citizens, please think of raising your voice for this cause as your duty as a law-abiding citizen during a crucial time for our country. Covid cases are hitting the roof, vaccination supplies are falling short, mutant strains of the virus are spreading and health systems are stretched to the limit. Your one signature on this petition will help galvanize public attention to fighting covid and saving lives.

#NoMassEvents

(Petition Image source: The News Minute)