Delhi and Punjab have the highest figures of UK variant: Are the farmers’ protests to be blamed for the surge in COVID cases?

The writing was on the wall and the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic surged with some ferocity across the country. However, the cases across Delhi and neighbouring Punjab account for the highest number of UK mutant variant of the virus. And now a correlation has emerged between the covid cases and the farmers’ protests which accelerated the growth of the virus in the capital city.

A netizen named Navroop Singh, who is an IPR attorney, took to Twitter to post a nuanced thread that neatly dissected how the farmers’ protests played their part in the catastrophe.

According to several media reports, it was clear that in the month of March, 81 per cent of the 401 samples sent by the Punjab government for genome sequencing had tested positive for the UK variant of Covid-19. Meaning, the UK variant had landed in the state long back, before the testing even took place.

Even the centre had alarmed the bugle when reports of the UK strain surging in Punjab came to light. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had attributed the surge pre-dominantly to weddings, elections and the farmers’ protests.

“In Punjab, 80 per cent of the cases due to the UK variant have been found and it has been confirmed by genome sequencing. It has come to notice that this surge in cases is event-driven like big fat weddings, local body elections, farmer protest, etc could also play a possible role,” he said.

Furthermore, Punjab’s Doaba region comprising of Kapurthala and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts contributed to 25.6 per cent of all COVID related deaths on March 19. The Twitter user pointed out that these two districts had a good NRI population that travelled to and fro from the UK to visit the ancestral properties and unwittingly brought the virus.

“About 60-70 per cent of those living in Doaba have a relative abroad. They keep returning to their ancestral homes every year, which has proven to be a problem for us as the new UK variant spreads,” a healthcare department official was quoted as saying by The Print.

The ‘virus carrier’ farmers of the Doaba region soon marched towards Delhi for the farmers’ protests and camped in and around the Singhu as well as several other borders. Aided by the Arhtiyas (middlemen) and the support of the AAP government which provided them with lodging facilities, the virus quietly made its way into the capital.

“Now which CM allowed Farmers to sit on Delhi Border at Singhu, gave them Free Wifi, Water & Electricity and welcomed these protests amid a Pandemic. Yes Mr Arvind Kejriwal from Delhi. So now when u suffer from UK strain you know whom to look too for this criminal apathy,” added Singh.

As a result, on 24 April 2021, it was reported that the presence of highly transmissible UK variant had almost doubled in Delhi between the first and last week of March, according to an ET report. In March last week, it comprised 50 per cent of all samples in Delhi. In April first week, about 28 per cent of the samples had the UK variant.

The liberal cabal of the country did not hesitate for a moment to pin the blame of the emergence of the second wave on the Mahakumbh Mela festivities. However, as Navroop pointed out, the UK strain spread from Punjab while the double mutant strain spread from Nashik and Nagpur, with Vidarbha being the epicentre.

The farmers’ protests have harmed the country in every imaginable way possible. From costing millions in loss to the exchequer by holding the borders of the national capital hostage to delaying the supply of oxygen tankers to now being the prime cause of the spread of Covid-19, the farmers’ protests are in the middle of each mishap. And yet, the AAP government in Delhi headed by Arvind Kejriwal is reportedly giving its full support to the movement.