As the second wave of COVID-19 continues to claim lives, and the healthcare sector teeters on the verge of collapse, the epicentre of the pandemic has shifted from urban areas to rural India where the “mystery fever” is wiping out entire families.
With the infection positivity rate slowly dipping, many people have stopped wearing masks and public gatherings are steadily increasing. When I spoke to some residents of Kaithal — a district of about 200 villages on the fringes of Haryana — they said the virus was just a “big-city phenomenon”.
“Most people aren’t bothered about the virus because nobody in their village has died of it,” said Kuldeep, a resident of Titram village. And those returning from bigger towns or cities are made to compulsorily home quarantine for 14 days.
At a hospital in Kaithal, when I asked the pharmacist why he was without a mask, he said he hadn’t used one till date. He said he believed that his daily food intake, rich in calcium and minerals, and his 5 km morning run would keep him healthy and virus-free. At the hospital, I also found a handful of patients and their attendants moving around without masks. They said they felt “suffocated” or “too hot” wearing them for long durations.
As for vaccinating against COVID-19, not everybody is keen to get a jab. While the younger lot is confident the virus won’t affect them, the older residents are wary of tests, injections and hospitals. One resident, Jagtar, who is vaccinated, said that some villagers believe the spread of the virus is fake news that has been spread by politicians, who have imposed the lockdown to curb the farmers’ agitation.
A child is examined by a healthcare worker during door-to-door COVID-19 surveillance at a village near Ahmedabad.
Those villagers who are willing to get the jab have to also contend with non-availability or shortage of vaccines. Jagtar said his village, Dhons, had ran out of doses over a month ago, with many now due for their second shot. Sunder Nain, panchayat head of Naina village, said only two vaccination camps had been organised in the village. And of the 4,000 eligible residents, only about 400 had managed to get the jab because they were not informed about the camp in advance.
Mahipal, public relations officer at the Kaithal hospital, said the circulation of fraudulent information on social media platforms was also responsible for creating a lot of misconceptions among people. One WhatsApp message, for instance, shows a video by a person claiming to be a doctor cautioning against taking the vaccine because it contains poison. Then there’s a YouTube video that says the use of masks is causing many deaths due to low intake of oxygen. As Gordon Pennycook of the University of Regina, Canada, puts it, “Social media algorithms are optimised for engagement instead of truth.” Lack of digital literacy and easy access to mobile phones and Internet lead many to rely on social media as their main source of information.
As the virus spreads in the hinterland, various State governments have responded urgently in some places — by creating isolation centres in villages, converting State transport buses to ambulances, motivating residents to create checkposts to monitor entry of people into the village (Theekri Pehra), incentivising villages to achieve full vaccination, and distributing ‘Fateh kits’ (medical essentials) to patients testing positive.
Sanjeev Sharma, a resident of Chandana village, said the people in his neighbourhood had begun to wear masks and take the infection seriously after the death of nearly 10 people. The vaccination camp had been organised here three times so far, he said.
We might not be able to prevent the third wave, but unlike this time, we can prevent mass casualties — if COVID-appropriate behaviour and vaccinations are adopted right now.
The writer is a medical student and poetry editor. Twitter @kinshukwrites
