COVID-19: Lessons Learnt
COVID-19:Lessons Learnt
1. Introduction: Ever since the inception of human race, it has been facing challenges and tough times. We as a race have faced various insurmountable challenges in our history. Be it ‘The Great Plague’, WW-I, WW-II, SARS or COVID-19, and we have come out of these situations better and with zeal to move onwards and upwards always.
COVID-19 has not only tested the patience of India but the whole world is reeling under its effects. It’s not that the medical readiness of the counties is to be questioned; it’s merely the fact that an outbreak of such a magnitude can never be anticipated in advance. Now that COVID-19 has arrived, it’s time for us to take lessons from it so that we are not caught unaware in future. Major problems arrive without any prior warning and COVID-19 is no difference, countries are under compete lockdown and life has come to a complete standstill all over the world. The economies are crumbling and the death toll is on a continuous rise. We as a race are trying to find a way out, but it is going to take time to get this COVID-19 beast under control, vaccines are being invented and the whole world is trying to win from a virus that is not even visible to naked human eye.
India has been under a complete lockdown since 24 March 2020 and it is to stay this way till 03 May 2020. There have been repeated reports of people escaping hospitals or quarantine. The challenges are many but the so is our resolve. We need to take a step and think, What could have been done better? Or where have we missed? There are many questions about what could have been done better, as of now, we are fighting the situation as it comes, but this has taught the whole human race a lesson. A lesson stating that the humans are merely guests on this planet and we humans need to get our act straight. There are many lessons learnt while preparing and combating COVID-19 that would act as beacons and guidelines to be better prepared if any such circumstances arises in future.
Public Health System: Some major loopholes were witnessed in this system that spilled all the skeletons out of the box. An overstretched public health care system forces millions of Indians to turn up to the unregulated private health care sector. There are areas where presence of public health infrastructure is zero. People have to opt for private health care which is both expensive as well as of low credibility. The Government’s expenditure on health is just 1.5% of the GDP, one of the lowest in the world. 52% households in urban area and 44% from rural area are still dependent on private health sector. This is a time to win the trust of the people by employing a thoughtful approach. This can only be achieved by increasing the health expenditure by government as a percentage of GDP compared to what is now and not just through health insurance.
Tough decisions: Tough decisions should be taken in time so that such situations/outbreaks can be controlled and tracked down when they are still in initial stages. Many western countries had failed to take action in time and that delay has resulted in aggravated situations which are now hard to bring under control. Indians on other hand surprised the whole world by a complete lockdown from 24 March to 03 May 2020. WHO praised this step by India and said that this would help in controlling the virus. The nationwide lockdown has helped reduce community transmission to a level where the “chain of infection” could be broken.
Banning International ingress & egress: Not only travel but even the trade relations should be stopped at the earliest. India took this decision well in time and the results are for all to see. Being cut off from the world helped India from foreign carriers of the virus. This has also affected various business sectors but then this was the need of the hour. An isolated country is safe from virus that is present on some other country and this provides us with the valuable time and resources to fight the virus.
Digital Access: With Physical distances among countries, digital access with internet is the only way to stay connected. Economies are now surviving on video calls, video conferences, emails and that is the saving grace that the economies are still functioning. Digital access was compared with oxygen in a report by ‘Tele-Health Illustrated’. Aarogya Setu app is one perfect example about how internet can act as a saviour for human race. Businesses are surviving because they have access to tolls that keeps them connected all around the world. Students, who are the future of our race, are accessing online learning tools. Internet has unlimited potential, so instead of using those potentials when the human race is pinned against a wall we should work on strengthening the internet space in such a manner that we are ready well before the crisis hit us.
Infrastructure: while India’s doctors and nurses remain among the world best, infrastructure - from ventilators to advanced testing kits - is inadequate. The corona virus has a higher ‘infectivity’ than previous virus like SARS, MERS and Swine Flu. It also has the ability to return in a second wave attack (as China has experienced) and become a chronic disease until a vaccine is found. That will likely tale at least a year or perhaps 18 months. India must therefore not lower its guard and keep improving its health infrastructure.
6. Conclusion: The importance is of the lessons learnt and then implementing them on ground when the need arises in future. Such instance are meant to make us better and stronger, but we need not become overconfident as the lives of humans is very fragile. COVID-19 would definitely go down in the annals of history as a very important event and as an event that changed our world into a better place.
