A tale from across the border: How India is dealing with COVID-19


Today the situation is such that if someone wants to travel from a village to a nearby city they cannot go because all modes of transport have been cut

Borders are sealed and the administrative authorities do not allow any kind of unnecessary mobility

Hence, India has become a nation of islands today

 A section of Indian thinkers and public intellectuals were already demanding a complete lockdown for more than two weeks

They were warning the government that if the state failed to respond quickly then we would be staring at the same fate as Italy, Spain and the United States (US)

Some researchers believe that India might have done well in containing the spread of the virus, but the country could still witness millions of COVID-19 cases by mid May

Additionally, it would be great a challenge to test all of the Indian residents who have recently travelled abroad

 According to researchers from the COV-IND-19 Study Group, an interdisciplinary group of scholars and data scientists, “the frequency of testing has been very low in India as only 11,500 subjects have been tested as of March 18th

” They warn that if the virus enters phase two or phase three in India then the escalation in cases would have devastating consequences on the country’s already overstretched healthcare system

So far, over 900 coronavirus cases have surfaced in India and the total number of casualties is at 20, for now

The figure itself is not discomforting, but the fact that everyday there has been an addition of more than 50 cases from different parts of India is not reassuring either

 Compared to the demography and size of the country the figure is quite modest

However, many experts believe that the number should not give us a false sense of satisfaction as the number of people tested thus far is too low to reflect the reality of the crisis in India

Simultaneously, India faces a challenge on another front too

 As a result of the lockdown the socio-economic fault lines of the country have become glaringly evident

While the majority of the middle class is reconciled to a relatively inactive life spent in self isolation till the lockdown ends, the economically marginalised are staring at a future where they only see uncertainty

They are not sure whether they can survive the lockdown and the consequent economic consequences

Hundreds of daily wage workers are stuck in different cities and are struggling to survive in the absence of any support

Given the severity of the lockdown, temporary arrangements are not going to solve their problems

Small farmers and workers in rural areas are also under great risk of losing their livelihood

In an attempt to combat this the government has announced free ration for them for the next three months

Ultimately, the coronavirus crisis is a test of India’s political leadership

But as of now it is too early to assess the performance of the government and how competent it has been in handling one of the worst crises that any government in India has faced since independence

 There is no doubt the government is taking it seriously and understands that if the situation gets out of hand then India will be faced with an unspeakable tragedy

But one thing that the present crisis tells us loud and clear is how inadequate our medical infrastructure is

I am stuck in a small place called Mokama in Eastern India’s Bihar state

This small city of a little more than 100,000 people does not have a single government hospital with a ventilator

An old private hospital called Nazareth Hospital is the only hope here if there is a medical emergency

But unfortunately, Mokama is not an exception and reflects a situation which is common in much of North India

The government has been cutting down the health budget since 2014 and privatising medical care with great speed

As a result, COVID-19 is testing not just individual resilience but also the resilience of the nation and its preparedness to deal with a crisis which is worse than a war



Date:29-Mar-2020 Reference:View Original Link