Coronavirus: India’s doctors, judges fight to prevent third wave as states push ahead with religious gatherings
- Kerala became the latest Indian state to loosen restrictions for a religious festival this week despite reporting rising case numbers
- Absent political leadership, it has been left to the country’s courts and medical professionals to urge caution – and appeal to citizens’ common sense
The Supreme Court on Tuesday chastised Kerala’s government for allowing a three-day relaxation of Covid-19 curbs ahead of Eid ul-Adha – the Muslim festival of sacrifice known locally as Bakrid – calling it a “shocking state of affairs” for officials to be bowing to pressure from traders amid a public health crisis.
Easing restrictions was “unwarranted and inappropriate at this time of medical emergency”, the Indian Medical Association said in a statement in response to what it called Kerala’s “retrograde” decision – contrasting it with other states that it said had put a stop to religious gatherings out of “a constructive sense of public safety”.
Kerala reported nearly 14,000 new cases on Monday, more than one-third of India’s total recorded Covid-19 caseload for that day. Daily infections in the state are down from a peak of more than 40,000 at the height of the country’s deadly second wave in May, but the seven-day rolling average of new cases has been increasing for weeks – prompting health professionals to call for a reassessment of priorities.
“For us, all religious events can wait. Only protecting lives matters,” said Dr J. A. Jayalal, Indian Medical Association president, who insisted that his organisation was “getting this message across”.