Kaafi Real: With Failing Health Infra, UP Ready for 3rd COVID Wave

Amid the second wave of COVID-19, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday had stated that the state government is gearing up to tackle the possible third wave of the virus.

(Photo: The Quint/Aroop Mishra)

Amid the second wave of COVID-19, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday, 16 May, had said that the state government is getting ready to tackle the possible third wave of the virus, alluding that it has the second wave under control.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, the Allahabad High Court had pulled up the UP government for its mismanagement of the crisis, and noted that “one can guess where we are leading people of this state to, ie third wave of the pandemic."

The UP government was castigated for insufficient medical infrastructure in rural areas and smaller cities, which lacked life-saving drugs and other essential healthcare facilities.

Last month, following the state’s panchayat elections, a village head, had reportedly told The Wire that a large number of people had been unwell since the voting exercise and struggled to find beds – laying on cots under neem trees in hope of more oxygen. Instead of looking into the matter, the UP Police filed a first information report (FIR) against the head, alleging him of making “false statements” and spreading rumours to tarnish the government’s image, The Times of India reported.

The UP administration, which is still witnessing the health crisis unfold in the state’s remote and rural areas, recently was also criticised for the absence of robust testing numbers. The ration for testing was a mere 60:40, the court noted.

The UP government’s negligence of ground realities bring into sharp relief the reports of hundred of corpses found floating in the Ganga, or buried in the sand of the river bank. In norther UP, these bodies expose the immeasurable loss of life amid the crisis, many of which are mostly absent in the official data.

The country’s most populous state has reported the fourth-largest number of confirmed COVID-19 infections.