WHY IS INDIA HANDLING THE PANDEMIC BETTER THAN THE US?
The deadly pandemic which began in china and reported its first case in November end, saw a rapid spread all around the world in February and March. India was one of the earliest countries which imposed a “janta curfew” on the 22nd of March followed by a 4 phase lockdown which began on the 25th of March and ended on the 31st of May. On the other hand, if we take the country like US into consideration it did not impose any such strict lockdown and for almost 80 days there were no firm actions on movement rules for the people.
- Total mortality rate - US and India.
In India, the number of deaths related to Covid-19 infection is 36,511 out of 1,701,307 total cases with total mortality rate due to infection at 2.86%. Total death count in US is 156,752 out of the 4,706,059 cases with total mortality rate at 5.26%.
- Measurements taken by India and US.
India despite having a population of 138 crore people it had huge challenges to face in order to keep its population alive as well as keep the economy at par. In order to ensure that nobody goes hungry during such tough times the government in the initial days only launched a 1.75 lakh crore scheme in order to help the weaker sections of the society which included pensioners, women, especially abled and the migrant workers. India had a few N-95 masks and PPE kit but by a month’s time it got more than million masks and kits.
On the other hand, US decided to prepare its own kits and disregarded the WHO kits and their attempt miserably failed. US, regarded as the country with maximum resources in all sectors had fallen short of medical supplies (gloves, masks, gowns, ventilator) and the medical staff was forced to reuse all the equipment. Another problem which worried the US government was that their college students were more keen on celebrating the spring break from classes rather than staying indoors. Churches were allowing thousands of visitors. No social distancing was being followed. India had imposed strict rules right from the beginning when it had just 10 cases. They did not allow any places of social gathering like gyms, malls, religious places, markets etc. to be opened. For more than a month only essential commodities were allowed to function. The government played a huge role on making the people aware about the current situation and take all necessary precautions. India had an advantage because it went step by step and it took the people’s worries into consideration. Its focus was economy but its priority was to look after the 133 crore population as they did not want people to panic. India knew it would face economic crisis still it did not stop the government to take adequate and necessary measures which not only stabled the situation in India but also helped a big superpower like US, which alone could look at the pandemic in a more responsible way had the government been more consistent but it was India who helped US in providing hydroxychloroquine.
