As per the Indian Health Ministry, as of today there are 127 positive cases of Coronavirus in India. Surprisingly, there were no cases reported till last month. The first case was detected on March 9 and just in 6 days time the viral fever has spread to stage 2. Now, the cases have been reported from Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, J & K, and of course Kerala and Maharashtra.
Till last month, the government had worked towards fetching Indians stuck in foreign lands. Now, to combat the disease the government has extended the travel ban beyond affected countries and prohibited the entry of all passengers, including Indian nationals from the European Union. There is a 14 days compulsory quarantine for all arriving from affected countries. 13 cases have been cured in India and two have died.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 5,066 samples across 52 medical facilities have been tested for corona virus as of March 9. This includes This included the testing of 3,522 people who are suspected of having come in contact with COVID-19 patients and 1,544 samples of people who were evacuated from China.
The ICMR director general has pointed out that we have only 30 days or less to handle the onset of stage 3. Meanwhile, Indian companies are readying infrastructure to develop diagnostic kits for COVID-19 testing. As for now, the kits are being imported from Germany and Switzerland and testing is handled by ICMR.
Though, the government has called for social distancing and asked companies to ask employees to work from home. To some extent, this is working but at some places is life as usual. People continue to take public transport to work in metros and the road side eating joints continue as usual.
How it started?
There was a group of 40 people who had visited Dubai on a group tour that returned on March 1. This group has contributed to 40 per cent of cases in Maharashtra. There’s is another group who had visited Philippines amongst whom three have tested positive
All malls, cinema halls, Gyms, Religious places of worship are shut. All Colleges, University exams have been postponed till March 31. The television and Bollywood industry has also cancelled all shoots.
The biggest fear is that countries like China, Italy, Spain and France moved from a few hundred cases to several thousand cases in a span of a week. India has already breached the 100 mark. Though, all passengers are being quarantined from the airport and social gatherings have been banned. Despite the screening at air and sea ports, the incubation period – between infection and showing any symptoms – lasts up to 14 to 24 days. So, here awareness and self isolation is important. As one person could pass on the infection unknowingly to many others who come in contact with him or her
Learning from the experience, an early lockdown can flatten the curve. But a complete lockdown seems very difficult and not economically feasible for many who depend on everyday work for their livelihood.
In all, we all need to be vigilant, conscious and avoid crowded places.