Letter.

Letter Published in The National UAE on 30 Dec22 India’s not willing to risk being unprepared this time around With regard to Taniya Dutta's article India's hospitals conduct Covid drills amid rise in cases (December 27): The Indian government’s preparedness to face the crisis is sensible. The country suffered greatly last April and May when there was a real fight for oxygen cylinders in the country's capital. Those scars will take a long time to heal. The Indian health authorities do not want a repeat of that and are presumably being extra cautious to face all possibilities in large numbers. With India's population of nearly 1.4 billion and considering the mutating nature of virus, realities on the ground tend to shift quickly. Along with the government’s implementation of new rules, such as random testing for international arrivals, it is important that people follow the instructions. Perhaps in the end these will all just have been preventative measures and everything will go smoothly. Panic doesn't help. K Ragavan, Bengaluru, India