Need for plan and creative approach to COVID-19 containment

Need for plan and creative approach to COVID-19 containment

- P.K. Balachandran

The coronavirus pandemic has been global in its reach. But its impact has varied widely. Approaches to its containment have also varied from country to country. Given the varying conditions, each country has had to or will have to, fashion its approach to suit its peculiar conditions so that the spread of the virus is contained while ensuring that the measures taken do not themselves exacerbate the situation.

India is 41 st in the list of affected countries. But this is no reason for it to rest on its oars. Dr. Ramanan Laxminarayan, an epidemiologist at Princeton University told the BBC that Indians are sitting on a beach which could be struck by a tsunami any moment. Preventive steps have to be taken and taken fast, he said.

But as events showed, the State should take steps to stem the viral onslaught and not exacerbate the situation through thoughtless actions.

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nation-wide lockdown on March 24 to an unsuspecting population of 1.33 billion, India has had 75 to 100 new cases a day.

The death toll till March 29 was 1024. India is still only 41st in the global severity list, but the size of the population (the second highest after China), the urban population density, high degree of internal migration and great deficiencies in the public health sector, combine to raise the possibility of a rapid spread of infection.

India is said to have over 100 million migrant labourers spread over the length and breadth of the country, especially in the economic growth centres of Delhi, Mumbai, Punjab, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.