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> You may not believe it, but India's response to the pandemic has been nothing less than fantastic Come on, India was probably the only country in the world w

> You may not believe it, but India's response to the pandemic has been nothing less than fantastic Come on, India was probably the only country in the world where there were dead bodies floating in rivers. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57154564 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57154564 During the second wave in April-May 2021, which India had ample time to prepare for, hospitals just didn’t have oxygen. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/ex-envoy-dies-waiting-outside-gurugram-hospital-246598 https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/ex-envoy-dies-wait... https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/04/21/india-hospital-oxygen-deaths/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/04/21/india-hospit... States purposely undercounted their death tolls by vast amounts. https://twitter.com/deepakpatel_91/status/1393419861183799300 https://twitter.com/deepakpatel_91/status/139341986118379930... That said some states like Kerala and Maharashtra managed the pandemic much better than others like UP and Bihar, so your experience could be based on one of the better performing states.

kaesar14 5y ago
To be fair, there is no country in the world operating with as little resources for as many people as India. The scale of administrating a pandemic response in India is mind-boggling.
lenkite 5y ago
I have seen dozens (probably hundreds in my overall life) of dead bodies in the Ganges long before Covid. It's disgusting but try telling the people to change their traditions and you will cause a riot.
nonamechicken 5y ago
The dead body floating thing happened in 1 or 2 states. My understanding is that dumping the body in Ganges is a cultural thing in some towns in those states. Someone from there told me that the older generation wants their body to be thrown in Ganges or buried on the shore so that they can get 'moksha'.
- statguy 5y ago
  > The dead body floating thing happened in 1 or 2 states. Those were the worst hit states - UP and Bihar. What was observed during the second wave was not normal, something like that last happened in 1918 after the Spanish flu: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57068503 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57068503 "This is not the first time bodies have floated up in rivers in India during a pandemic. "The River Ganga was swollen with dead bodies", the famous Hindi language writer and poet, Suryakant Tripathi, better known as Nirala, wrote about the 1918 outbreak of Spanish flu in his village in a province which is now India's Uttar Pradesh state."
  - nonamechicken 5y ago
    While I agree that we shouldn't be seeing bodies in rivers, I am not entirely convinced if Covid and Spanish flu in India are comparable. The below links say bodies were found in many rivers, not just Ganga. "A report released by the sanitary commissioner in 1918 later documented that it was not just Ganga that was clogged up with bodies, but all rivers across India." https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/an-unwanted-shipment-the-indian-experience-of-the-1918-spanish-flu/articleshow/74963051.cms https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-natio... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic_in_India I don't think if scenarios such as below are happening in India, the leftist Indian media would stay silent. “India perhaps never saw such hard times before. There is wailing on all sides. … There is neither village nor town throughout the length and breadth of the country which has not paid a heavy toll. Elsewhere, the Sanitary Commissioner of the Punjab noted, “the streets and lanes of cities were littered with dead and dying people … nearly every household was lamenting a death, and everywhere terror and confusion reigned.” https://theconversation.com/1918-flu-pandemic-killed-12-million-indians-and-british-overlords-indifference-strengthened-the-anti-colonial-movement-133605 https://theconversation.com/1918-flu-pandemic-killed-12-mill...
  - nonamechicken 5y ago
    Just found out that there was a similar incident back in 2015 where they found more than 100 dead bodies in Ganges in the same region. It was also reported by BBC. Now I am wondering if BBC conveniently forgot that and went far back to 1918, just so that they can compare India's current situation to Spanish flu? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30808745 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30808745 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unnao_dead_bodies_row https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unnao_dead_bodies_row

kaesar14 5y ago

To be fair, there is no country in the world operating with as little resources for as many people as India. The scale of administrating a pandemic response in India is mind-boggling.

lenkite 5y ago

I have seen dozens (probably hundreds in my overall life) of dead bodies in the Ganges long before Covid. It's disgusting but try telling the people to change their traditions and you will cause a riot.

nonamechicken 5y ago

The dead body floating thing happened in 1 or 2 states. My understanding is that dumping the body in Ganges is a cultural thing in some towns in those states. Someone from there told me that the older generation wants their body to be thrown in Ganges or buried on the shore so that they can get 'moksha'.

statguy 5y ago
> The dead body floating thing happened in 1 or 2 states. Those were the worst hit states - UP and Bihar. What was observed during the second wave was not normal, something like that last happened in 1918 after the Spanish flu: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57068503 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57068503 "This is not the first time bodies have floated up in rivers in India during a pandemic. "The River Ganga was swollen with dead bodies", the famous Hindi language writer and poet, Suryakant Tripathi, better known as Nirala, wrote about the 1918 outbreak of Spanish flu in his village in a province which is now India's Uttar Pradesh state."
- nonamechicken 5y ago
  While I agree that we shouldn't be seeing bodies in rivers, I am not entirely convinced if Covid and Spanish flu in India are comparable. The below links say bodies were found in many rivers, not just Ganga. "A report released by the sanitary commissioner in 1918 later documented that it was not just Ganga that was clogged up with bodies, but all rivers across India." https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/an-unwanted-shipment-the-indian-experience-of-the-1918-spanish-flu/articleshow/74963051.cms https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-natio... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic_in_India I don't think if scenarios such as below are happening in India, the leftist Indian media would stay silent. “India perhaps never saw such hard times before. There is wailing on all sides. … There is neither village nor town throughout the length and breadth of the country which has not paid a heavy toll. Elsewhere, the Sanitary Commissioner of the Punjab noted, “the streets and lanes of cities were littered with dead and dying people … nearly every household was lamenting a death, and everywhere terror and confusion reigned.” https://theconversation.com/1918-flu-pandemic-killed-12-million-indians-and-british-overlords-indifference-strengthened-the-anti-colonial-movement-133605 https://theconversation.com/1918-flu-pandemic-killed-12-mill...
- nonamechicken 5y ago
  Just found out that there was a similar incident back in 2015 where they found more than 100 dead bodies in Ganges in the same region. It was also reported by BBC. Now I am wondering if BBC conveniently forgot that and went far back to 1918, just so that they can compare India's current situation to Spanish flu? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30808745 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30808745 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unnao_dead_bodies_row https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unnao_dead_bodies_row