Can India Win in the fight against Covid-19?

Everyone is talking and thinking about nothing but the coronavirus or Covid -19 day in, day out across the world. The pandemic has pushed all the other news into triviality. While the governments across the globe are struggling to contain this deadly pandemic, clouds of increasing uncertainty and overwhelming fears have enveloped the world. The unprecedented lockdowns and stringent restrictions across the continents have brought sweeping changes in every sphere of life.

The deadly contagion is even bringing the super power US to its knees with the spiraling cases and increasing death tolls every passing day pushing the country to seek the much sought- after drug of the day Hydroxychloriquine from India. This has turned the world’s spotlight on India and raised the million-dollar question - Can India win the fight against Covid – 19 with its whopping 1.3 billion population and poor medical facilities?

India swings into action

India acted swiftly to contain the pandemic. On 24 March, the Prime Minister Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown. India shut its $ 2.9 trillion economy, clamped down all its businesses and issued strict stay- at -home orders to more than a billion people. Air, road and rail transport systems have come to a screeching halt.

WHO on India

"India is at a crucial juncture in its fight against COVID-19. The country has responded with urgency and determination as reflected in the Prime Minister's bold and decisive leadership. The government has also aggressively stepped up the response measures - find, isolate, test, treat and trace. WHO stands together in solidarity with the government in its firm resolve to overcome this unprecedented challenge," says Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India.

How India stands in comparison with the other affected countries and its health infrastructure

India is particularly susceptible. With a population, which is the second largest in the world and much more densely populated than China, it is increasingly going to be an uphill task to contain the spread of the deadly virus. India has 420 persons per square kilometer while it is 148 in China. Furthermore, most of the cities in India have slums packed with poor people dwelling in very unhygienic conditions. Much depends on testing. In fact, rigorous testing holds the key. Currently India has only 300,000 testing kits while several millions will be needed to size up the extent of the predicament. India has to scale up testing more aggressively, if not, community transmission would be exponential. For instance, South Korea, which was the worst affected countries after China, was able to control the spread of the virus and the death toll with extensive testing of over 210,000 people out of a population of 51 million. India, in comparison with South Korea, has conducted 1,60,000 tests so far (as on April 8, according to ICMR data) out of 1.3 billion population.

The other issue with India is its sensitive medical infrastructure. India has an estimated 2.71 beds per 1,000 people as compared to China’s 4.3 beds per 1,000 people while 0.62 doctors per 1,000 as compared to China’s 1.8 per 1,000. Further, India’s expenditure on healthcare is also among the lowest in the world—1.3 per cent of GDP as compared to China’s 5.3 per cent.

What India is up to?

Now, into the second month after the first case of Covid-19 was detected in the country, over 6000 people have tested positive and with a death toll over 200 as on 10 April 2020. As testing got momentum, the true picture is emerging fast. The virus is beginning to spread through dense communities and new clusters of infection are being reported every day. As the 21-day lockdown nearing, the Indian government is mulling over extension of lockdown further since it could easily risk triggering a fresh wave of infections.

Needless to say, Covid -19 has drastically altered the life styles of billions of people across the world as well as in India in many ways than one. Under the aegis of Prime Minister Modi, with his bold and decisive leadership, India is hopeful about tiding over the predicament sooner. India has risen to the occasion by producing indigenous testing kits on war footing and expanded its testing centers from 1 to 140 in just three weeks. The country is relentlessly fighting back to contain the spread of the deadly virus with relentless public awareness campaigns, social distancing measures and above all, a heightened awareness towards hygiene and strengthening immunity levels. One thing for sure, our lives will never be the same again.