Back in October of 2020, when people were somewhat adapting to the new normal, rumours started about a second wave of the pandemic. Places were opening and rules were being lifted up. People were meeting their Kith and kin after ages. Add to this, a hint of holidays and you get the perfect recepie for a covid disaster. Winters made the case even worse as it provided a perfect breeding ground to the virus.
Fast forward to 6 months latter, the winter is gone, people have adapted to the pandemic life and everything is back to normal. To the covid normal that is. Touchwood for not having a second wave ofcourse. Suddenly, out of the blue, cases start rising like anything and within a few days time it crosses 1 lakh mark, setting a new record of highest cases yet from the beginning of the pandemic.
But why?
Well, why not? Covid has been around for more than a year now and to be honest, people are kind of wary of it. They have a lot of things to worry about. Family, office, friends, festivals, the current show thay are binge watching and what not. Ain't nobody got time to follow some lame covid rules. It's 2021, we already have the vaccine. Plus the winters are gone too. In such scorching heat, the bacteria might as well kill itself.
On a serious note, If you analyse the distribution of cases of past few days, you'll find that the cases are more concentrated in few areas. On April 5, more than 50% of the cases were from Maharashtra only. And Mumbai and Pune has been the worst hit cities of India in the last 30 days. What this tells us is that as businesses are opening and are starting to hire people again, people are becoming more negligent to the the virus, and flocking to metropolitan cities in search of better opportunities.
Take for New York. What used to be one of the most expensive cities to live in is becoming more and more affordable. Why? When it was at the peak of positive cases, people no more wanted to live at the epicenter of a pandemic and so they moved to other cities. This led to a sharp decline in rent prices, one of the rarest things to happen in New York after a New Yorker who doesn't swear and is kind to others. This attracted youngsters from around the world who had the dream of living in the big Apple but couldn't do so because of it's high cost of living. Thus the city is again getting the buzz around and so is the chances of a next wave of the pandemic.
What New Yorkers fear, Mumbaikars are already experiencing. Mumbai has the heights covid cases in India as of now, and the numbers are escalating with every passing day. It is high time for us to stop treating the pandemic like some flu or mere virus and start being vigilant.