Coronavirus is deadly for health and various other aspects of the society. No one is immune. No country, community, person. Hereby affecting our country INDIA.
Though not as affected as ITALY, SPAIN, USA, AUSTRALIA and CHINA, new cases and death toll increases day by day. We were lucky to learn from the circumstances of the countries affected by the pandemic prior to us, and our government took just actions towards prevention as there is till date no cure.
The outbreak has been declared a pandemic in more than a dozen states and union territories, where provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 have been invoked, and educational institutions and many commercial establishments have been shut down. India has suspended all tourist visas, as a majority of the confirmed cases were linked to other countries.
The World Health Organisation chief executive director of health emergencies programme Michael Ryan said that India had “tremendous capacity” to deal with the coronavirus outbreak and, as the second most populous country, will have enormous impact on the world’s ability to deal with it. Other commentators worried about the economic devastation caused by the lockdown, which has huge effects on informal workers, micro and small enterprises, farmers and the self-employed, who are left with no livelihood in the absence of transportation and access to markets.
Experts suggest the number of infections could be much higher as India’s testing rates are among the lowest in the world. The infection rate of COVID-19 in India is reported to be 1.7, significantly lower than in the worst affected countries.
According to a study at Shiv Nadar University, India could have witnessed a surge of 31,000 cases of disease between March 24 and April 14 without lockdown.
The Reportings.
On January 30, India reported its first case of COVID-19 in Kerala, which rose to three cases by February 3; all were students who had returned from Wuhan, China. On 4 March, 22 new cases came to light, including those of an Italian tourist group with 14 infected members.
The transmission escalated during March, after several cases were reported all over the country, most of which were linked to people with a travel history to affected countries. On 12 March, a 76-year-old man who had returned from Saudi Arabia became the first victim of the virus in the country.
Confirmed cases crossed 100 on 15 March, 1,000 on 28 March, 2,000 on 2 April, and 3,000 on 4 April. The death toll crossed 50 on 1 April and 100 on 5 April.
On 31 March, a religious congregation event that took place in Delhi in early March emerged as a new virus hotspot after numerous cases across the country were traced back to the event. Over 9,000 missionaries may have attended the congregation, with the majority being from various states of India and 960 attendees from 40 foreign countries.
Government responses
On 19 March, during a 30-minute live telecast, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked all citizens to observe ‘Janata Curfew’ (people’s curfew) on 7 am to 9 pm on 22 March. During this curfew he asked everyone to stay at home. To acknowledge the work being done by various sectors during the outbreak, he urged people to gather in front of their own doors, windows or balconies at 5 pm and applaud them for five minutes. On 24 March, Modi announced a nationwide lockdown from midnight of that day, for a period of 21 days He also announced a ₹ 15,000 crore (US$2.1 billion) aid for the healthcare sector.
On 17 March, The Government of India issued an advisory urging to all Indian states to take social distancing measures as a preventive strategy for implementation till 31 March.
The government of Assam started making isolation facilities in Sarusajai stadium and Nehru Stadium in Guwahati.
Travel and entry restrictions
On 3 March 2020, the Indian government suspended the issuing of new visas and visas already issued for nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan.[] On 4 March 2020, the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, announced compulsory screening of all international passengers arriving in India
Lockdown
On 22 March, the Government of India decided to completely lockdown 82 districts in 22 states and Union Territories of country where confirmed cases have been reported till 31 March. At 6 am on 23 March Delhi was put under lockdown till at least 31 March. Essential services and commodities were to continue. 80 cities including major cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Chandigarh[ and Kolkata were also put under lockdown. Inter-state movements are allowed during the lockdown period. However some states have closed their borders.
On 23 March, union and state governments announced the lockdown of 75 districts where cases were reported.
On 24 March, PM Narendra Modi announced a complete nationwide lockdown, starting from midnight for 21 days.
Firefighters join the battle against Covid-19
As per the data with the department, decontamination activities were carried out at public places, including ATMs, market, FCI godowns, bus stands and railway stations in the past week. Decontamination drives were held in hospitals. Isolations wards and quarantine areas were decontaminated 25 times, while vehicles transporting essential goods were disinfected 154 times.
The entire Fire Department of the Nation has to be on high alert as a large number of fire-related accidents are reported between February and April. In most cases, dry grass in remote places catches fire. The FireFighters on their toes carrying out Covid-19 prevention activities by Fire and Rescue Services officials during lockdown by carrying out Decontamination drives in Hospitals Isolation wards, disinfecting Public places, Public Transport Vehicles, Supplying Medicines and Food to the Needy and the elderly.
The maximum number of people affected by covid-19 in India are in the age group of 21-40, said the Union health ministry. While the elderly are said to be the most vulnerable to the disease, people above 60 years accounted for only 17% of total cases in the country. The age profile analysis of covid-19 cases in India. We found that 9% of positive cases are in between 0- 20 years, 42% cases are in the age group of 21-40, 33% in 41-60 and 17% in the people above 60 years of age.
India reported 58 critical cases of covid-19 and these were found in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi. As far as deaths are concerned, we have noticed that advanced age and co-morbidities such as diabetes, kidney and cardiac ailments played an important role in deaths. We are dealing with a highly infectious and communicable disease. We are battling with this on a day-to-day basis. Still, the case doubling rate in India is lesser than other countries.
Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Cipla corporation, launched a joint venture to develop anti-COVID-19 drugs.] Pune-based Serum Institute of India is expected to apply for clinical trials of certain strains from Drug Controller General of India. Of other two companies trying to develop COVID 19 vaccine in India, one being Zydus Cadila, replicating viral vector and developing DNA plasmid vaccine] and other being Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with US based FluGen, expecting first clinical trials of a nasal vaccine by late 2020.
With no vaccine in sight, misinformation generated on the internet has made people believe in certain fictions of curing this dreadful virus at home.
Various Indian PSUs, firms and start ups including DRDO and ISRO, have repurposed their production lines to manufacture general PPEs, full body suits and ventilators and designing low cost or mobile medical equipment
Government of India is taking all necessary steps to ensure that we are prepared well to face the challenge and threat posed by the growing pandemic of COVID 19 – the Corona Virus. With active support of the people of India, we have been able to contain the spread of the Virus in our country. The most important factor in preventing the spread of the Virus locally is to empower the citizens with the right information and taking precautions as per the advisories being issued by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. Further, we are also getting inputs with regard to individuals and companies who have developed technologies and innovative solutions, Bioinformatics, datasets, Apps for diagnosis etc that can be leveraged for strengthening the fight against Corona.
Since the outbreak has turned out to be devastating, everyone would wonder what happens if one has the virus and how it is being treated without any vaccine. Well, here are some frequently asked questions that will give you an insight into the current treatment offered for COVID-19.
Hoping India can yet so the World and Bend the curve as we;; as break the chain and stand out among the odds and prove we are the biggest Motivation and resourceful nation to defeat this Pandemic cotangent virus COVID 19.