On 13 March 2020, Indian PM Narendra Modi asked the leaders of the SAARC nations to assemble to figure out a joint strategy to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic. The group of leaders convened on March 15 and discussed measures including joint research, combined ministerial task forces and an emergency contribution fund. India has offered to seed the plan with $10 million.
Crux of the Matter
“Prepare, but Don’t Panic” The emergency SAARC video meeting called by PM Modi was attended by Presidents of Sri Lanka, Maldives and Afghanistan, Prime Ministers of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, and Health Minister of Pakistan.
I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy. Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 13, 2020
Modi stressed the importance of SAARC nations to be prepared to fight the contagious virus given that the region houses one fifth of humanity. At the time of the meeting, the region had seen less than 200 cases whereas the rest of the world (led by China, Middle East and Europe) had seen more than 150,000 cases. Other SAARC leaders concurred with India’s approach and pledged to pool resources and task-forces to put up a united fight in terms of research, information sharing and diplomatic co-ordination. India also started a fund with a seed of $10 million to be used as a common resource by all SAARC countries to fight off the contagion.
Ahead of the Curve Since Jan 2020, when news about the spread of Coronavirus started trickling out of China, India has been taking pre-emptive measures to ensure the safety of its citizens and pre-emptively mitigate the spread of the deadly contagion. Indian airport authorities have been conducting screening tests on passengers from January itself while slowly ramping up travel restrictions. Currently, India has banned pretty much all entries into the country from abroad. Earlier India had canceled in-bound visas from China and other affected areas. The Indian government has also readily deployed it’s air force to evacuate its citizens from Coronavirus hit places. In February, India had evacuated not just Indian but Pakistani students as well who were stranded in Wuhan – the epicentre of the outbreak. Last week India evacuated its citizens from Iran, where the contagion has wreaked havoc since early 2020.
Indian citizens evacuated from Iran
India’s humongous population always poses a logistical challenge to any scaling problem. India has been pre-emptively preparing its medical facilities to prepare for an outbreak since February. Major cities in India including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru have set up isolation wards in multiple hospitals and prepared labs for testing. Further basic precautionary guidelines are being communicated by the government on all channels including a caller tone before every telephone call.
People praises Government of India's screening system in fighting #Coronavirus #COVID19india #COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/HvBOeUmOXb — DD News (@DDNewslive) March 15, 2020
Humanity in the Time of Corona When China was facing the worst of the outbreak with cases in the range of 80,000, India had sent consignments of relief materials including masks, disposable gloves, and surgical suits. China has publicly thanked India’s humanitarian gesture as the pandemic forced the nations to put aside their geopolitical differences. India has also been addressing requests from Iran, Italy, Bhutan, Maldives, and other nations to supply testing kits and medical supplies. British Media’s Petty Colonial Hangover Even as the entire globe was gripped in panic over the pandemic, certain British news agencies went out of the way to criticize India’s “under-preparedness” for dealing with the pandemic while simultaneously praising measures taken by China. To put this hypocrisy into perspective, UK which has 5% of India’s population has seen over 1,500 cases and 55 deaths, whereas India has so far seen around 129 cases and 3 deaths (as of 17 March 2020). China in comparison has seen over 80,000 cases and more than 3,000 deaths due to coronavirus.
The British government has recently been universally panned for delaying precautionary bans on gatherings in a bid to try and develop “herd immunity” by allowing “controlled spread of the disease”.
‘I’m an epidemiologist. When I heard about Britain’s ‘herd immunity’ coronavirus plan, I thought it was satire’ https://t.co/k23pJpHfm0 — Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 15, 2020
Impact Update As of 17th March, India has recorded 129 confirmed cases with 3 deaths. All the deceased were elderly, aged 76, 68 and 64 respectively. This is in line with data that suggests a high fatality rate (over 10%) for people above 60 and the fact that the median age of deceased patients in Italy is 81.
In a bid to arrest the further spread of the disease, government authorities have put restrictions on gathering of people. Universities and schools have declared holidays. Many offices have followed suit, with a lot of companies opting to promote work-from-home among their employees. Indian researchers have also made headway in treating patients and researching the pathogen to develop vaccines.
India fifth country to isolate Coronavirus at NIV Pune lab https://t.co/xCQE8uFULC — ICMR (@ICMRDELHI) March 14, 2020
Curiopedia
SAARC – The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. SAARC was founded in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. More Info
Quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been exposed to a communicable disease, but do not have a confirmed medical diagnosis. The term is often used synonymously with medical isolation, in which those confirmed to be infected with a communicable disease are isolated from the healthy population. More Info
Pandemic is a disease epidemic that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents, or worldwide. A widespread endemic disease with a stable number of infected people is not a pandemic. Further, flu pandemics generally exclude recurrences of seasonal flu. Throughout history, there have been a number of pandemics of diseases such as smallpox and tuberculosis. One of the most devastating pandemics was the Black Death, which killed an estimated 75–200 million people in the 14th century. The current pandemics are HIV/AIDS and coronavirus disease 2019. Other notable pandemics include the 1918 influenza pandemic (Spanish flu) and the 2009 flu pandemic (H1N1). More Info
Curated Coverage
The Economic Times – Narendra Modi: PM Modi proposes emergency covid-19 fund for Saarc nations
India Today – PM Modi reaches out to SAARC leaders to combat coronavirus
The Independent – Coronavirus: India bans all travellers from entering country in unprecedented move
The Economic Times – First batch of medical supplies ready to be sent to China
The Economic Times – Check the list of isolation facilities created for coronavirus in India
Fortune – Coronavirus: U.K. is trying to build a ‘herd immunity’
The Local – Coronavirus. What do we know about the victims in Italy?
Livemint – Coronavirus update: 64-year-old dies in Mumbai, India’s third casualty
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