Early this week, as Asian voice went to print, there were 2,323 confirmed cases of B1617.2, popularly termed as the “Indian variant of concern” which has led to threatening to derail the easing of UK’s lock down. The Prime Minister is under major scrutiny for adding India to the “red list” only on 23 April, three weeks after announcing a ban on flights from Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Indian Covid-19 variant is feared to be up to 50% more transmissible than the Kent variant. Bolton, Birmingham, Worcestershire, Luton and parts of London are worst affected. Cllr Neil Nerva, Brent's cabinet member for public health, culture and leisure, said: “A very small number of cases of the variant of concern first identified in India have been located in the borough of Brent. There are now 86 local authorities with five or more confirmed cases of the Indian Covid variant, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.
Asian community was disproportionately affected in the first and second wave, due to possible higher comorbidities, poverty and multigenerational households. So the fear is obviously greater with a more transmissible variant. On May 15, the UK Covid death toll rose by seven amid rising cases of the Indian variant. However, verified data on deaths due to this variant is not available in the public domain. Vaccines Minister Mr Zahawi told the BBC that pilots of vaccinating younger people in multi-generational households in Luton had been successful.
Bolton’s infection rate of 192.3 cases per 100,000 people is among the highest in England. As businesses were slowly getting back on their feet, another lockdown could create “train-wreck” for Bolton. The PM announced that the Army will be sent into Bolton as surge testing and extra vaccines are deployed in the town to quell the country's worst outbreak of the Indian variant of Covid-19. As residents fear another lockdown approaching, many have complained that localities have flouted Covid protocol.
In the light of this situation, people residing in some areas of Blackburn who are in the range of age 18 and over can receive a coronavirus vaccine. Blackburn with Darwen Council said jabs would be offered only to over-18s with health conditions, in line with government guidance.
Reports suggest that youths aged 11 to 22 are at centre of Indian Covid variant surge in Bedford as locals fear another lockdown. “The B.1.617.2 strain now accounts for almost three-quarters of cases in the town. Council team leader says local lockdowns don't work as people will go elsewhere,” The Daily Mail reported. People aged 36 and 37 are now offered the coronavirus vaccine, in race to beat the new variant.
A story in The Times stated that officials are hoping that surge testing of many asymptomatic people in affected areas, which has worked to contain the South African variant, will be able to keep the Indian variant in check. At a Downing Street press conference Boris Johnson announced that remaining second doses for the over-50s will be accelerated so they come eight weeks after the first.
England’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty has said that the aim is to firstly protect the most vulnerable from coronavirus, which “is very heavily predicated by age”.
The Times cited that Pakistan and Bangladesh were put on the red list on 9 April, but India was not added until 23 April. The Labour party has claimed that Mr Johnson was reluctant to upset Indian prime Minister Narendra Modi, with whom he was trying to strike a trade deal. Mr Hancock insisted that more arrivals from Bangladesh and Pakistan tested in the UK ahead of April 9 were positive for Covid-19 than those arriving from India. But on 26 April, 122 people tested positive after arriving from India, mainly from Mumbai and Delhi.
Have we lost compassion?
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced that care home residents will be able to nominate five visitors for regular visits when the UK moves to the next phase of lockdown easing on Monday. Meanwhile, people in Wales are being advised to only travel abroad for “essential” reasons for at least three more weeks. Residents in England have been told they may travel abroad for leisure from Monday. Britons have been urged to stay away from ‘amber list’ countries such as Spain, Italy, France and Greece. This is being touted as “holiday plans thrown into chaos.”
Ironically, ever since cases of the Indian variant rose in the UK, and India was finally put on the red list, there’s been much speculation and unnecessary criticism as to why Indians travelled back and forth. Many of them have not seen their families for more than a year now. Sourav Niyogi had travelled to India to look after his ageing parents and is now back in the UK quarantining in a hotel, given India is on the red list. “It is not an easy situation to be in,” he said. “However, given the rise of the number of cases in India, the UK government does not have many options. My stay has been smooth so far - the hotel staff has been very helpful. I would say, if all of us follow the quarantine guidelines, we ourselves will be safe and make others safe. I do want to add, I have a small worry that we do not pick up the virus through the hotel air conditioning- given that we still do not know for sure how the virus exactly spreads.”
Shovon Ray recently travelled from Mumbai to London on a packed Air India flight on Saturday 15 May. “My flight had been cancelled four times before this. The original flight was in March. Don’t really know about the fear about the Indian variant because I haven’t been out yet. But the queue at immigration was extremely long. I had to wait four hours till my turn came. I was travelling alone. So, it wasn’t a big issue,” Shovon told Asian Voice.
He mentioned that there were elderly people and families with babies. He said, “They were having a hard time. Especially after such a long flight. Everyone was clearly tired and agitated. Not many staff members at the immigration desk which was making the wait much longer. Once at the immigration desk it didn’t take much long for them to clear me because I’m a UK citizen. But I could see people with different nationalities had a lot of paperwork to go through and had to have some set of permissions and clearances. Can’t really specify. But most of them were carrying files.”
Commending that the immigration the process was a lot smoother, he explained, “They grouped people according to the area they were supposed to travel for quarantine. Mine was Arora Gatwick. Don’t really know why they sent me this far because I live in London. It would have been easier for me to be a bit closer. But I guess most of the hotels are booked. So don’t think they had an option.”
“Once we reached the quarantine facility there were a few formalities to be completed. And we were allotted rooms. I haven’t been out ever since. Today I took my first covid test since it’s my second day. Still awaiting results. The next test is on the 8th day. The hotel is alright. Can’t expect much when the world is falling apart. Food could have been better. And the lunch/dinner timings could have been a bit more flexible. Though it doesn’t matter because I’d rate the food 3/10,” he further added.
However, Ray agreed that expecting the government to provide better facilities is asking too much at this time. “But for the price they are charging, stay is not that great. Hopefully if I’m negative at the end of day 10 I’ll go out and get to work,” Ray said.
The bitter truth
While a common civic endeavour is needed to fight the variant, commenting on the situation, without mincing his words, Professor Dr Shiv Pande MBE said, “Sadly, the Indian variant is more aggressive and transferable and transmittable. No doubt in hindsight it would have been good if India was put on the red list much earlier. Yes, people who are going to hospital now in Bolton, Blackburn are those who had declined to have vaccinations. The UK is opening now but we should have reconsidered extending it at least by two more weeks. Commenting on vaccinating people who are stuck in the UK and can’t travel to India, Dr Pande said, “It is a very important issue- we should request UK authorities to vaccinate them and protect asap.”
Dr Ashish Dhawan, National General Secretary of British Indian Doctors Association UK, said, “The Indian variant is of concern. The data suggests that it is 50 percent more transmissible than the Kent strain and Matt Hancock went to record to say that if something is not done, it could spread like wildfire in the community. I strongly feel that Indian should have been put on the red list 10-14 days earlier. Early data that is coming out from Oxford is suggesting that Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna are all effective against the Indian strain. The ways in which we are going to defeat this strain is mass testing, mass vaccination and if this doesn’t come under control, then consider a regional lockdown. For anyone stranded in the UK, the government should try to first send them back to India and isolate them for ten days. But if that’s not an option, then they should make sure to vaccinate these people here in the UK.”
How is the community coping?
Ishwar Tailor, President Gujarat Hindu Society, Preston is fully vaccinated. He feels that India should have been on red alert earlier. He mentioned, “The people in multigenerational who have not had the jab should test regularly and if positive should isolate. Asian businesses are not suffering as much as the demand for goods is high however they do need to take precautions. Members of the community need to follow the government guidelines and persevere a little longer so that everyone one can stay safe.”
But is there fear among the members of the community?
While the term “Indian variant” is being mulled over in the name of blatant racism, calls for not calling it ‘Indian’ but B.1.617.2 are rising in the South Asian community citing racism, speaking to the newsweekly, Dr Bhavna K Pandya made an imperative observation and said that “there was nothing to compare at that time to complain about the UK variant.” She further added, “I feel safe in the UK.”
Should India have been put on the red list before and that could have stopped the spread of the new variant to so many people? Dr Pandya said, “This is very difficult to say as it is always different when seen retrospectively. At that time there was not much knowledge about the spread-ability of the new variant which we now know that it spreads much faster than the previous variants.”
“Being a health professional, I had both the doses. My husband just received his second dose of the vaccine. However, we both caught Covid before the vaccine.”
What would people in multigenerational households do to protect themselves? Dr Pandya said, “This is challenging. Protecting elderly is very difficult as exposure is not possible to avoid. This is the reason we saw so many of our elderly loved ones losing their lives in all UK waves which was shocking. We also have gone through the same shock waves as what India is going through. The best way forward from this time and date is to vaccinate them.”
Talking about the impact of this variant on businesses of South Asians in the UK, she said, “This should not impact just on South Asians unless the Government puts restrictions on one community only. The Government won’t do that. There will be an impact if the government has to put the restriction again due to the surge of cases.”
But what can the members of the community help each other in this crisis? “Continue to follow the Government guidelines. Wear a mask, keep safe distance, do not gather in many numbers yet, keep the area ventilated. The most important aspect is prevention by vaccine. Take the vaccine when the turn comes. The Government has opened up for all ages in certain areas of the UK for the vaccine to help with this,” she added.
Speaking to Asian Voice, Harsha Shukla MBE, Vice President North of Hindu Forum of Britain said, “I feel safe because I take precautions and take extra care of cleanliness too, wearing masks and gloves when going out. When the Kent and African variants were quite strong and we were in a lockdown, we vaccinated the community to bring down the rising rate of infection. I’ve got both my doses of the vaccine. Sewa UK is doing an excellent job of providing hot meals, food parcels, PPE kits and other relief material to the community, and the government is also making sure all businesses that are affected by the second wave are taken care of. Communities are doing their level best to help each other. The UK has done an excellent job in taking care of its people in the pandemic, I’m sure the government will do its level best to protect the north western region from the rising cases with vaccination drive. Hopefully, we all will be better together.”
Ministers are considering plans for local lockdowns and this might mark the return of tiers if Indian strain of the coronavirus takes hold. Boris Johnson has shelved a planned announcement of an end to social distancing rules as the faster-spreading Indian variant forces a rethink. The Prime Minister will no longer announce next week that fines for not wearing face masks will end next month, or that businesses will no longer be compelled to keep people at least a metre apart.
