News Article - National

 

India’s fight against COVID-19

- Zeeshan Akhtar 

     Photo Source: PTI 

The world was hit struck by a pandemic caused by a virus called COVID-19 or the Novel Coronavirus in the year 2019. The virus, as claimed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international organizations, originated from a Chinese meat market in Wuhan. The virus took over China within a few months, forcing the Chinese government to put a complete lockdown in some of its major hit cities and provinces, causing major trouble for their economy, as everything was closed and shut, including schools, colleges, offices, markets, government, and private institutions, etc. As cases spread in China, other countries also started reporting Coronavirus cases, and eventually, an epidemic turned into a pandemic with the blink of an eye.

India reported its first case on 30th January 2020, by that time, the world was getting used to the pandemic, but we were still not prepared for what was going to come next, something so worse and harsh, no one ever thought of. India as a country was not prepared to fight a virus that was new and mysterious as its healthcare system is not as strong in comparison with western countries such as the US, France, and Europe. India eventually started reporting multiple Covid-19 cases, but it was still far behind in the race with the other worst-hit countries like the US, Europe, China, and France. India still had some time to prepare for a fight that would go on for a very long period.
The World Health Organization was monitoring each country while the Covid-19 virus was taking them over, India was warned that it could be the worst hit by this pandemic in terms of healthcare and the economy. As cases surged in India, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on 24th March 2020, announcing a nationwide lockdown of 21 days to fight the Coronavirus. This came as a shocker to the population of 1.3 billion people, with the majority of them belonging to the middle-class section of the society or some living below the poverty line, such as daily wage earners, fruits & vegetable sellers, rickshaw pullers, migrant laborer’s, etc. as their lives got affected a lot because of the lockdown, with their businesses being shut, with no opportunity to earn their livelihood.

Just after the first lockdown was announced, India saw a huge surge in the coronavirus cases, due to which, our Prime Minister and the Central government decided to continue the lockdown for four more phases, and this period was the most difficult one for the whole country. The country witnessed a healthcare failure, economic failure, the migrant crisis, multiple deaths, and much more. People were locked inside their homes, schools and colleges moved their classes online, work from home became a new normal, and people somehow got the idea of how this year is going to be. The government started working towards the welfare of the people, with multiple hospitals opened up for treating coronavirus patients, improving the testing facilities in the country, creating multiple labs for testing the virus, and also working towards finding a vaccine for the virus.
During the lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on many occasions, addressed the nation, making important announcements regarding the lockdown, requesting people to remain indoors, telling people to wear masks and practicing social distancing, as well as, he also tried to boost the morale and confidence of the people fighting against the virus on ground zero such as doctors, nurses, sanitization workers, police personnel’s, etc., by urging people to come out to thank the emergency service workers for working through the novel coronavirus outbreak. He suggested that every Indian must come out of their houses, stand in the balcony’s or windows at exactly 5 pm on Sunday, March 22, and express gratitude towards the people who are working tirelessly on the ground zero fightings against the novel coronavirus. And people did come out of their houses, standing in solidarity with the emergency workers, proving how beautiful this country is.
On the 10th day of the lockdown, Prime Minister asked the countrymen to light candles and lamps at 9 pm in the night for 9 minutes to demonstrate a collective will to fight coronavirus. India might not have seen such an influential Prime Minister ever before, as his single request brings the people of this country together standing with each other on 5th April, when people stood up against the darkness, lighting candles and lamps in their hands, highlighting the true spirit of this country.

Such demonstrations of togetherness and positivity by the people of this country helped the whole nation in standing up strong against the virus. The country started to unlock, as the government rolled out announcements every month, providing ease for businesses, markets, offices, and industries to open slowly, while the cases of coronavirus were still increasing at a very high rate. The country did witness a lot of ups and downs in the last few months of its fight against the virus, but India stood strong and confident. The pandemic is not over yet, and India has come a long way fighting this battle. Currently, there are 7,48,538, active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 9.85 percent of the total caseload, which is 75,97,063, while a total of 1,15,197 people have died according to date by the Union Health Ministry.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 20th October addressed the nation and discussed some very important points that should be followed by every citizen of this country. These points include practicing social distancing, washing hands regularly with soap and water, and wearing a mask while going out in the public. He warned the countrymen, that the virus is still here, and we have to be careful until we get a vaccine. As festivals are approaching, Modi requested the people of this country to be very careful while celebrating them and wished everyone a very happy, healthy, and prosperous life ahead.