JAIPUR: It is difficult to say if it is a sheer coincidence or governmental negligence, but after the political crisis gripped Rajasthan on July 12, the state has seen a sharp rise in new Covid-19 cases, touching an all-time high on August 5.
For more than 10 days now, the state has added more than 1,000 new cases daily, pushing up the total number of cases to 47,845 and active cases to 13,251 on August 5.
In the pre-political crisis period before July 12, the cases were rising by about 500-600 a day and the number of active cases stood around 5,800. But since then, new cases is steadily going up, clocking over 1,000 after July 25 and active cases more than doubling. (Graphic 1 & 2)The rising numbers have also affected the recovery rate, which was around 78.5% before July but has now declined to around 71%.
The political crisis sparked by a rebellious Sachin Pilot has resulted in a stalemate of sorts. CM Ashok Gehlot has corralled his MLAs, first in Jaipur and now in Jaisalmer, fearing poaching by the BJP or the Pilot camp. Many ministers are among those who have been kept in political quarantine.
The Covid surge has dented Rajasthan’s Bhilwara model of countering the pandemic, which earned praise from no less than PM Narendra Modi.
State health minister Raghu Sharma admitted that the cases were rising but blamed the public for it.
“Some of them are not careful and ignore the wearing of masks and social distancing norms despite repeated warning from the government,” he said. Sharma also said that it was improper to single out Rajasthan as the rate was high in the country as a whole.
“If cases in Rajasthan are now increasing by about 1,100 per day, in the country the positive cases are rising by about 55,000 a day,” he said, pointing also to ramped up testing.
“The increase in number of tests is a major reason behind the rise in numbers.” In early July, much before the Pilot revolt, Rajasthan averaged 14,000 tests a day. This increased to 23,000 on July 10 and now it is more than 25,000 a day. (Graphic 3) Gehlot also rejected any link between the political crisis and the surge in Covid cases.
“Despite the political crisis, our government is doing its best to fight the corona menace. We have raised our capacity for tests to over 40,000 per day and our mortality rate is around 1%, which is one of the lowest in the country.”
He said the “people are satisfied with the efforts of our government” and blamed central ministers, especially the Home Ministry, for trying to topple his government rather than helping the state to effectively counter the crisis.
But the BJP attacked the Gehlot government, claiming there was a paralysis in the government. “It is unclear if the government will be able to prove its majority in the Assembly, but the coronavirus is definitely proving its majority in the state as the number of cases has risen sharply,” said state BJP chief Satish Poonia.
“The MLAs are being kept locked in luxury hotels, there is nobody to help the poor people against Covid-19. It is thanks to the immunity levels of the people that they are safe. Nobody can rely on this government in the face of the corona crisis.”
Senior pathologist Rateesh Sareen of the SDM Hospital said there was a nationwide rise in corona cases. “If we see the overall figures of July in the state, 23,779 new cases were found and 267 deaths were reported. Though the figures have gone up, the death rate in the state has come down, from 2.28 % to 1.61 % in July, which is a big relief.” Dr Rakesh, an expert in the state health directorate who is associated with the WHO, concurred with the health minister.
He said with the rising number of tests, the government was now reaching out to more people. “But increasing the tests is not the only factor. More people are now going out to their workplaces, resulting in greater social interaction. So, that’s an added factor behind the rising cases,” he said, adding that an awareness drive was the only answer.