I walked through a nearby slum looking to open oxymetry centres. Other than my friend and I, we found one person out of hundred wearing a mask.

The government has said it again and again. They have imposed a fine. There have been unending posts on WhatsApp and social media highlighting the importance of masks. But no!!

In the clinic, patients have to compulsorily wear masks, but they are very keen to keep pulling them off. Some masks are worn under the nose, some under the chin. Many men wear gamchas, many women wrap chunnis or the edge of their sari to cover their mouths. All of these coverings keep slipping off and no one seems to mind! Except for the doctor who is wearing a full-body cover, 2 masks and a face shield sweating from head to toe!! But No!!

570 doctors and nurses have died on Covid duty. More than 200 policemen have died from Covid while manning the roads. Thousands of Anganwadi and ASHA workers are going door to door contact trace positive patients and the people exposed to them. But No!!

Indians have a insane amount of faith in God and scant respect for science. No wonder that we are now heading to one lakh new patients per day. There are studies that say for every one positive patient there are 80 others we have missed testing!!! Our deaths are now second to the US....but No!!!

How could the longest and harshest lockdown in the world fail? It failed due to the utter indiscipline and stupidity of our countrymen. Everything cannot be blamed on the government.

We will eventually end up having the highest number of positive cases and the highest number of deaths. We will shrug it off blaming the overpopulation forgetting that China has a higher population than us. But they do have a people who are accustomed to following instructions.

I have seen it with my own eyes. We are doomed.

(Writer Dr.Sarika Verma is ENT Surgeon Gurgaon)