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Ashwin Mahesh

@ashwinmahesh

27 Apr

The top 15-20 cities in the country have 80-90% of the ventilation and oxygen supply facilities. One reason for the very large crush of demand in the cities is that even as little as 20 km away from them, there is a steep drop in critical care infrastructure.

When '20 km away' is still in the same state, the government should respond to this with a comprehensive plan for a large region around the city. If this is not done, the facilities that do exist will be swamped because they are suddenly asked to serve a much larger base.

Governments have always acted on the assumption that critical care patients will travel to the city to be served. But that's a kind of discrimination. While some services can only exist at sufficiently aggregated points, the hierarchy runs through virtually everything.

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Ashwin Mahesh

@ashwinmahesh

27 Apr

The word 'review' is over-used in talking about political leaders taking stock of things. Most leaders dont have the capacity to comprehend much of what they're told or they observe, let alone review. It's mostly for photo-shoots and press releases. That's understandable, but ...

If, separate from the political made-for-media actions, there is also an actual process of review and analysis, then it would be alright to have leaders put in an appearance. But invariably, the photo-shoot and PR is the ONLY kind of review that goes on, and that will never do.

We need professional processes to respond to complex problems. Those require staffing by capable people who are left to do their jobs professionally and with accountability. Such people don't mind working without the spotlight, but they expect their leaders also to be competent.

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Ashwin Mahesh

@ashwinmahesh

26 Apr

Bengaluru Urban district now has the highest number of active Covid cases in the country. A distinction we can do without. The worst part is, there's no sign that any sort of different course is being set. We're still resorting to the same 'solutions' that got us this dishonour.

And now comes the lockdown. The great irony is, the people are repeatedly told what they cannot do, while the governments are not on the hook for what they should be doing. A lockdown without a containment plan is simply a postponement.

In the states too, the story is the same as at the Centre. When governments take the stance that 'we know everything', they become responsible to demonstrate that. Especially in double-engine states, where there is no one else to share the blame with !!

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Ashwin Mahesh

@ashwinmahesh

26 Apr

Madras HC slams Election Commission, calling it singularly responsible for the second wave of Covid. Officials should be booked for murder - what a slap !! The EC, unfortunately, was among the worst institutions in India even before Covid. The pandemic just made that clearer.

In the name of conducting free and fair elections, the EC has - for decades - conducting polls that are so clearly anything but free and fair. Money, muscle, ruling party bias, incompetence, unaccountability, violence, etc have provided the dominant narrative of its work.

To me, this failure is far worse than anything else. It has resulted in a pandemic of unchecked terrible politics in the country. And once that happens, the rest of the pandemics, of whatever scale, are just queued up to hit us one after the other.

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Ashwin Mahesh

@ashwinmahesh

26 Apr

India's population is well known. Therefore the vaccine requirement too is well known. Depending on the number of vaccinations administered each month, we'll get to 80% coverage by some date. At the current pace, that date is well into 2022.

Even with increased capacity for production at SII and Bharat Biotech, we won't make a significant dent in the current pace of vaccination. What we need is other manufacturers and other vaccines also coming into the supply chain.

The trouble with the way we've organised government is that nothing can be done quickly, even in an emergency. The whole system is designed to do things slowly, with almost anyone able to say no to something, and almost no one empowered to say yes.

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Ashwin Mahesh

@ashwinmahesh

25 Apr

Yes, India is the fastest to vaccinate (partially) 14 crore people, but at the current pace, India will also be last among the major economies to finish vaccinating its people The 14 crore is simply the result of a large population. Everything we do will have such scale.

It's a little odd to see, day after day, the fixation with insisting - despite all the contrary evidence - that the govt is winning the war against covid. Selective data, carefully worded claims are somehow expected to make us forget images of gasping patients and funeral pyres.

After a while, it starts to look silly. If you perform slowly, that's success. If you perform late, that's also success. If you perform partially, that too is success. By this logic, the only thing that is not success is performing swiftly, on time and fully !!

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