India, officially the Republic of India is a country in South Asia. It is the second-most populous country, the seventh-largest country by land area, and the most populous democracy in the world.
Presently, India is ranking fourth in total coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients so far detected in the world. Present mortality rate for India is around 3%. We have trillion minds to tackle problem, but in case of COVID-19 pandemic where all developed countries had given up, we needed a tailor-made approach by keeping in mind our issues about the infrastructure in India (see Table 1 ). The tragedy is immediate, real, epic, and unfolding before our eyes. The COVID-19 tragedy is described as the wreckage of a train that has been careening down the track for years. European countries were already burning in this pandemic. To add to this, public health expenditure in India is just above 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) (4.8% of GDP if private health sector is considered).
| Population | 1.3 billion |
| Literacy level | The overall literacy rate in Urban India is 79.5% |
| Public health expenditure | 1% of GDP |
| Global Health Security Index rank | 57 out of 195 countries in 2019 |
| Health-care access rank | 149 |
| Health-care infrastructure adequacy rank | 124 |
| Funds allocated to the defense sector | Five times the fund allocated to health |
| Respiratory systems | 40,000 |
| Isolation bed | 1 per 84,000 people |
| Doctors | 1 per 11,600 patients |
| Hospital bed | 1 per 1826 Indians |
The warning signs of pandemic arrival in India were knocking our health-care system since the first few cases surfaced in Kerala (January 30, 2020). All cases in Kerala had a history of travel to Wuhan. Screening at all airports of all the international passengers started on March 6. Indian Council of Medical Research didn’ t -test people with COVID-19 symptoms without a recent travel history and a known contact that might have transmitted them the virus, up until March 20. The government’s official line for the public as late as March 13 was that the coronavirus was not a health emergency.
Early signs of community spread were seen on March 10, 2020. On March 13 and 14, sequence of Covid-19-related events in India depicted in Table 2 . India banned the entry of international travelers, visas were suspended for travel to India. All international travelers entering India were asked to self-quarantine for 14 days. India was one of the first countries to ban flights and ban travelers from China. Till March 15, 2020, Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests were limited only to those who are symptomatic and those who gave abroad traveling history. Social distancing as a method of keeping the virus at bay was first officially flagged by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he spoke to the nation on March 19 in order to call for a 1-day “Janata Curfew” on March 22. The first national containment measure in the form of a nationwide lockdown was only introduced on March 25, 3 months after the first COVID-19 case was reported and 2 months after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. The Epidemic Disease Act was implemented in entire country which allowed officials to quarantine suspected cases and close down public places. An intensive campaign was initiated, and guidelines were developed for personal hygiene, surveillance, contact tracing, quarantine, diagnosis, laboratory tests, and the management of COVID-19. All health-care facilities were asked to stop regular outpatient and inpatient services and to continue with only emergency services. Doctors were encouraged to use telemedicine services. The Aarogya Setu app was also launched to connect essential health services with people of India to fight against COVID-19. This app will inform the users of the risk, best practice, and relevant advisories pertaining to the containment of COVID-19. “Lockdown phase” was utilized by individual states to covert amenities like hotels, colleges, railway train coaches, etc. into quarantine facilities and large public places like stadiums/trade centers were converted into isolation wards to handle an anticipated increased number of cases. Some of the states converted existing hospitals to exclusively handle COVID-19 patients. Personal protective equipment such as ventilators, face shields, and face masks production was put on priority. “Atmanirbhar program” encouraged the local experts to increase the production of necessary amenities. Time had come to prove our indigenous talent. A control room was set up at the headquarters of the General Director of Health Service to address the COVID-19 related queries. The countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) were invited to tackle this pandemic, and 10 million US dollars were allocated for SAARC countries.
