The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in India was reported on 30 January 2020, originating from China. As of 6 May 2020, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have confirmed a total of 49,391 cases, 14,183 recoveries (including 1 migration) and 1694 deaths in the country.[5] Experts suggest the number of infections could be much higher as India's testing rates are among the lowest in the world.[8] The infection rate of COVID-19 in India is reported to be 1.7, significantly lower than in the worst affected countries.[9]
The outbreak has been declared an epidemic 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.[10]
On 22 March 2020, India observed a 14-hour voluntary public curfew at the instance of the prime minister Narendra Modi. The government followed it up with lockdowns in 75 districts where COVID-19 cases had occurred as well as all major cities.[11][12] Further, on 24 March, the prime minister ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, affecting the entire 1.3 billion population of India.[13][14] On 14 April, the prime minister extended the ongoing nationwide lockdown till 3 May.[15]
Michael Ryan, chief executive director of the World Health Organisation's health emergencies programme, 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.[16] 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.[17][18]
Observers state that the lockdown has slowed the growth rate of the pandemic by 6 April to a rate of doubling every 6 days,[19] and, by 18 April, to a rate of doubling every 8 days.[20]
The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), in its report based on data from 73 countries, reports that the Indian Government has responded more stringently than other countries in tackling the pandemic. It noted the government's swift action, emergency policy making emergency investment in healthcare, fiscal measures, investment in vaccine research and active response to the situation, and scored India with a "100" for its strictness[21][22]
As of 27 April the states of Goa, Sikkim, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura have been declared as "Covid-19 Free" with zero active cases by the Government of India.[23][24][25]
SOURAV MONDAL
Comments
Post a Comment