Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
May 14, 2021 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
Kaieteur News – Since the start of the pandemic, the western world has been searching for a scapegoat for the pandemic. The initial target was China where the virus originated but it was in the West where the virus’ spread and became a pandemic.
The United States has recorded more than 33.6 million infections, more than 10 percent of its population and 600,000 deaths. It is followed by India and Brazil with 24 million and 15.4 million cases respectively. The deaths in both Brazil and India while high are below that of the United States.
Yet from the reports in the western media, you would tend to believe that the situation in India is worse than it has ever been in the United States. On Wednesday, India recorded 4,126 deaths; the USA, which has seen an appreciable decline in daily deaths, recorded 483 deaths. However, India’s population is almost five times that of the USA and therefore the present death rate in India, while dire, is comparable on a per capita basis with that of the United States.
On the 8th January, the United States registered 304,916 new cases. India, with almost five times the population recorded 414,000 on May 6th this year. However, prior to this present wave, India’s highest number of daily infections was below 100,000 last September.
On 12th January, the United States recorded 4,468 deaths. India, with almost five times the population of the United States recorded 4,200 deaths three days ago.
Comparably and adjusting per capita, India has so far done better in managing the pandemic than the United States which still has the highest number of cases and deaths globally.
However, if one looks at the infection and death rates, the present wave in India is deadlier and it will get worse. In comparison, the present wave in the United States is deadlier than earlier waves but the bell curve, tracking daily cases and deaths, suggest that within the next few months, the situation will be brought under control.
The United States is therefore likely to exit the pandemic by the end of the summer, while India will likely not be able to do so until next year. This has to do with the vaccination rate. The United States has so far administered at least one dose of the vaccines to 46.6% of its population, while India is straggling far behind at 10%.
The prognosis for India therefore is not good. By the time the pandemic ends, cases and deaths in India are likely to surpass that of the United States. But on a per capita basis, the USA will still be the global leader in infections and deaths.
The US is therefore no paragon of efficiency when it comes to managing the pandemic. Even the UK, which had one of the world’s poorer records on a per capita basis, has done far better in reducing deaths than the USA. The UK still has a higher per capita COVID-19 death rate than the USA. However, its total deaths are now in double figures. On Wednesday, it recorded a mere 11 deaths. From all indications, the UK is now exiting the pandemic on account; it is believed to have a smarter vaccination policy.
Guyana has much to learn from what is taking place around the world. The government is now saying that 63% of the elderly population (those 60 years and older) have been vaccinated. Since the high-risk group is 55 year plus, this rate is much too low to result in a drastic reduction in deaths.
However, vaccine hesitancy has been high and the government did the next best thing and extended vaccination to all adults even before it has vaccinated more than half of the over 55 population.
Since it does not appear as if the government is prepared to extend the curfew, introduce work from home and rotation and close non-essential businesses, its best option, all things being considered, would be to obtain more vaccines, including those from Johnson and Johnson, which many countries now appear to be rejecting.
The present surge in cases globally has been attributed to variants that are more virulent. But there is no conclusive evidence as yet on this. The western media however wants people to believe that it is the variants, which have driven the increase in cases rather than poor management of the pandemic.
As part of this agenda, it will continue to point to variants from Brazil, South Africa and India as being sources of concern but will downplay the variants in the US and the UK, which ought to be of similar concern. This is all part of the scapegoat tactic of blaming others for the West’s own mistakes.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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