CoronaVirus Disease (COVID-19), a novel virus outbreak which began in the city of Wuhan, has now turned the world upside down. We have seen numerous bustling cities, towns and even countries being shutdown, all in a matter of few days. The life as we know it, has taken a turn. And only time will prove if it was for the best or not. To know more about the history of COVID-19, click here.

The entire world lives off in fear in self-isolated or quarantine, while the Indians seems to be quite cool. Yes, India – the second most populated country in the world. How did this country manage to maintain low numbers? Do you really think India is safe? Has India prepared well to embrace the impact of an outbreak? Let’s find out more about the precautions taken in India to prevent an outbreak. And how well can India fight the disease outbreak. Let’s find out.

Precautionary steps

– At the borders

• Evacuation and quarantine. Indian citizens from locked down cities abroad where evacuated, flown back to India in a special Air India flight and placed under quarantine for 14 days.
• Strict temperature checks at ports and isolation. All the passengers entering India undergo temperature checks at airports and the suspected people are immediately isolated.
• Reduce imported cases. In an effort to prevent large number of imported cases, visas were denied to foreign nationals traveling from the affected countries.
• Limit export of supplies. Concerned over global supply chain shortages, India curbed the export of pharmaceutical drugs. (The Guardian)

– Within the borders

• Awareness via telecom. The telecom operators replaced ringtones with default messages spreading awareness about the virus. (The Hindu – Businessline)
• Solution Challenge. For fast results, Indian Govt. initiated the COVID-19 Solution Challenge encouraging individuals and startups to come up with ways to fight COVID-19.
• Prevent large gatherings. Large crowded areas like schools, universities, malls, offices and restaurants have shutdown. Weddings, public meetings and movie releases postponed. Religious institutions like churches, temples and mosques have been closed as well.
• Monitor prices of essential supplies. Govt. agencies have kept a check on surge of essential goods price. (The Economic Times)
• Convicted prisoners manufacturing masks. Surge in mask demand has deployed convicted prisoners to manufacture the face masks. (Business Today)

These are few measures to contain the outbreak taken by the Indian government and the public. Real crisis reveals characters. This pandemic, in a way, has helped bring out the true nature of different people.

Current Scenario

The situation worldwide is fast evolving. As I write this article, the total number of positive cases is 244,523, total deaths is 10,030 and total number of recovered cases is 86,026 (Click here for live updates).

In India, 206 confirmed cases, 20 recovered cases and 5 deaths. Following are the excerpts from the monologue by the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi on March 19, 2020 (08:00 PM IST) to address the gravity of situation to the public.

• Nationwide Janata Curfew to be imposed on March 22, 2020 from 7 am to 9 pm IST
• Practice more social distancing
• Economic Task force has been setup to deal with the COVID-19 economic crisis
• Refrain from panic-buying and hoarding
• As an act of appreciation for all the frontline medical workers, clap and cheer at 5 pm IST on March 22, 2020 nationwide from homes.
• Spread awareness to fellow citizens about the Janata Curfew via phone calls
• Believe information only from legitimate sites and avoid spreading fake news
• Young children and aged people are advised to stay home and avoid unnecessary visits to hospitals.
• Elective surgeries must be postponed

Do you think it was a mistake or overconfidence? Not heeding to the warnings and distress calls raised, that caused the pandemic? Or was it too late for the alarms to reach the ears of world leaders?

Please let me know in the comments below and stay tuned for more unknown facts.