I. THE COVID-19 SITUATION
COVID-19 has affected more than 25,416,694 people and led to the death of 851,102 people in 213 countries and territories globally . This virus originated in China and spread to the entire world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared it a pandemic with a very high-risk assessment. As per the International Monetary Fund the global economy has now entered a recession that could be as bad as or worse than the 2009 downturn. Currently there is inadequate awareness about COVID-19 prevention measures. At the same time, the epidemic is disrupting livelihoods for the next half billion people causing severe economic hardships.
The virus is spreading in India at an alarming rate. The country now ranks third globally, in terms of confirmed COVID cases. The case count is 2,640 per million and death count is 47 per million in India . It’s reported in MoHFW site that more than 70% cases in India are due to comorbidities. The country has witnessed five phases of lockdown since March 25th, followed by three phases of Unlock from June to August, and the Phase 4 of Unlock starting from September 01-30.
The situation in India has worsened since Unlock Phase 1 due to easing of many restrictions and lack of awareness among people. This is evident from the chart below. The COVID case count is increasing by leaps and bounds. It is seen that from 1.90 lakhs in June 01, India has crossed 36.21 lakh mark by August 31 – 18% increase in last 3 months.
Till August-06, India reported 19,64,536 confirmed cases of which 5,95,501 are active COVID-19 cases, 13,28,336 are successful recoveries and death toll is 40,699 . The active cases for states with major outbreaks are shown in Chart 1 below, and Chart 2 depicts the confirmed cases vis-à-vis the recoveries for the majorly affected states.
The increasing spread of COVID-19 has led to public health emergency, especially for the elderly and children (below 10 years of age) and has severely impacted the livelihoods for the entire nation, especially for the workers in the unorganised sector.
Situation of Indian Economy:
The economy is in turbulence since the start of the pandemic and after first quarter of the fiscal 2020-21, the country is grappling with the largest GDP contraction ever at -24%. Since March 2020, there has been sharp rise in unemployment (rose from 6.7% on 15 March to 26% on 19 April and then back down to pre-lockdown levels by mid-June). Estimated 14 crore (140 million) people lost employment while salaries were cut for many others. At the same time there has been stress on supply chains, decline in government income from various revenue sources and shrinking business opportunities for the service sector especially tourism and hospitality industries.
Situation of Migrant Workers:
As per a recent data released in The Hindu, a survey of 11,159 migrant workers stranded in various States, conducted by Stranded Workers Action Network found that between April 8 and April 13, more than 90% did not receive rations from the government. Close to 90% of those surveyed did not get paid by their employers. From March 27 to April 13, 70% of the surveyed workers had only less than ₹200 left with them. The situation prompted mass exodus of migrant workers from cities to their native villages. Lying at the bottom of the social pyramid, these workers have lost their source of livelihoods due to the lockdown.
Situation of farmer’s in India:
Lockdown and restrictions on migrant workforce has led to crops stranded in farms as demand for agricultural products and their farmgate prices collapsed, raising concerns about food availability and the economy. Agriculture itself accounts for 15 percent of India’s gross domestic product and employs nearly half the workforce.
As the ongoing lockdown coincides with the Rabi harvesting season, farmers across the country are looking up to the government to ensure uninterrupted harvesting of the crops as well as smooth procurement operations. The Union Home Ministry’s circular waiving restrictions on the inter- and intra-state movements of farmers/labourers, as well as harvesting and related farm machines, is indeed a step in the right direction. While ensuring availability of labourers for critical farm operations, their safety (from any COVID infection) and welfare must be prioritised by the government systems.
Housing and Sanitation conditions in India:
The situation of housing and sanitation conditions in India pose threats to maintain social distancing, regular handwashing and self-isolation – all of which are essential protective measures to stop the contagion. A review of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data on housing and sanitation (76th round, 2018) reveals the following:
- Almost one-third of the rural population and half of the urban population in India live in houses where the per capita space available is less than a single room, which effectively means that isolating a person with the risk of infection is extremely difficult. This implies that home quarantine/self-isolation measures would be difficult to implement among 60 percent of the population in the event of spread of infection
- The availability of running water in houses is a necessity to ensure frequent handwashing with soap. The NSSO data reveals that 40 percent of urban households and 75 percent of rural households in India do not have access to tap water in the house or within their residential premises. This implies that members of these households fetch water from public taps, wells, or other community water sources, which leaves community with higher risk of infection. Social distancing is difficult to follow for a large proportion of households, who wait for long hours to fetch water from these public sources.
- Overall for both rural and urban areas, about 8 percent of the Indian population uses public sanitation facilities and 25 percent of the population has no access to any sanitation facility, making it difficult to follow good hygiene practices.
- Hand washing practices with soap calls for changing mind-sets and behavioural patterns for the Indian population.
(Source: Economic Political and Weekly, Vol. 55, Issue No. 16, 18 Apr, 2020)
Government’s Efforts:
The Government of India is working to contain and manage this pandemic in collaboration with state governments, union territory administrations, civil society organisations (CSOs) and all stakeholders including the citizens of the country. The NITI Aayog has urged for multi-stakeholder partnerships between private sector, CSOs and International organisations for supporting local administration and work on COVID-19 response related activities.
II A SELF-RELIANT INDIA: “Vocal for Local” in the post-COVID era
In a post COVID era the path to India’s rise in the 21st Century is through self-reliance and the COVID crisis had given a glimpse of India’s ability to turn a crisis into an opportunity. Prime Minister Modi in his televised address to the nation during last month mentioned that self-reliance is the mantra for success in the new world order, but also added that it was India’s responsibility to seize the moment to make the 21st century its own. He also stressed about the point that we should change our focus from economic centric development to a human centric development.
The new hashtag floating around in our imagination of a modern and national life of commerce and business in India is #VocalForLocal. This means: Go local. Trust local. Go for a self-sufficient and self-reliant India. Make-in-India. Believe in Made-in-India and put your buying power into products and services that are made locally. This is time for the nation to revive and rebuild its brand of “Make in India” and understand its various dimensions.
The contours of the self-reliance model will be based on five pillars – economy, infrastructure, technology-driven system, vibrant demography and demand.
PM Modi, in his deliberation to the nation, said that India’s vision of leadership is based on ‘Vasudev Kutumbakam’, the ancient Indian principle of taking the world along as one family.
III Unlock Phase 4.0
The country completed five phase of lockdown and three phases of Unlock. Now the country has entered into "Unlock 4.0", from September 01-31 period, allowing opening up of more activities in areas outside the containment zones, marking gradual opening of the country and economy amid coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak. While the MHA order allows certain phased re-opening of activities in the fourth round of unlock, it has continued to extend lockdown in containment zones till September 30. An MHA release said that the new guidelines are based on feedback received from states and UTs and extensive consultations held with related central ministries and departments.
Unlock 4 Guidelines: List of dos
- Social, academic, sports, entertainment, cultural, religious and political functions and other congregations will be permitted with a ceiling of 100 persons, with effect from September 21.
- Open air theatres will be permitted to open with effect from September 21.
- From September 21, outside containment zones, States/ UTs may permit upto 50 percent of teaching and non-teaching staff to be called to the schools at a time for online teaching/ tele-counselling and related work.
- Metro rail will be allowed to operate from September 7 in a graded manner.
- There shall be no restriction on inter-State and intra-State movement of persons and goods. No separate permission/ approval/ e-permit will be required for such movements.
Unlock 4 Guidelines: List of don’ts
- Schools, colleges, educational and coaching institutions will continue to remain closed for students and regular class activity up to September 30.
- Cinema halls, swimming pools, entertainment parks and theatres will continue to remain closed.
- International air travel, except as permitted by MHA, to remain suspended.
IV Containment Zone: Important information
Strict Lockdown measures continue to be operational in the Containment Zones:
- According to the order, lockdown in containment zones will remain imposed till 31 September, 2020. These virus containment zones need to be carefully demarcated by the state governments or UTs.
- Within the perimeters of containment zones, strict social distancing and other norms of containing the spread of the virus shall be maintained and only essential activities will be allowed, MHA said in a statement.
- These containment zones will be notified on the websites of respective district collectors of the states and UTs and activities taking place in these zones will be strictly monitored by the authorities
What is a Containment Zone?
Areas that are notified by the authorities as high-risk zones, where the number of coronavirus cases is high, are called containment zones. The civic bodies decide which area qualifies to be listed as a containment zone. The basic idea behind such a demarcation is to limit the virus in an enclosed space to prevent its spread in other areas.
What activities are allowed in a containment zone?
Only essential services like groceries, medical supply, water supply etc. are allowed in containment zones. Authorities ban movement inside such areas; they also block entry and exit points so that infected people can't spread the virus. West Bengal capital Kolkata has more than 280 such zones; Delhi has 122, whereas Mumbai, the worst coronavirus-hit city has over 660 areas listed as containment zones.
Movement in containment zones will be monitored to ensure that nobody leaves or visits, except for medical emergencies and the supply of essential goods and services, the Centre today said in its guidelines, adding containment zones will also see intensive contact tracing, house-to-house surveillance and other clinical interventions, as required.
States and Union Territories have also been asked to identify buffer zones outside containment zones. These refer to areas the virus could spread. Restrictions within buffer zones will be decided on by district authorities, the Home Ministry said.
V Hotspot (Red Zone) Hotspot (Red Zone)
In an earlier order released on May 4, 2020, the Union Health Ministry delineated districts within states as COVID-19 hotspots. The basis of classification is as below:
Red zone districts are those which have reported large numbers of cases or having high growth rate of infections. The below table gives the detail of how a red zone district is identified.
| CLASSIFICATION OF HOTSPOTS | 'Hotspot (Red zone) classification'- to focus attention on districts/cities reporting large number of cases/high growth rate |
| INCLUSION CRITERIA | |
|
Highest case load districts contributing to more than 80% of cases in lndia |
|
As per the updated figures till May 4, 2020 there are 130 districts in the Red zone category .For sake of records the list is shared below:
| States | Red Zone Districts |
| UTTAR PRADESH | 19 |
| MAHARASHTRA | 14 |
| TAMIL NADU | 12 |
| DELHI | 11 |
| WEST BENGAL | 10 |
| GUJARAT | 9 |
| MADHYA PRADESH | 9 |
| RAJASTHAN | 8 |
| TELANGANA | 6 |
| ANDHRA PRADESH | 5 |
| BIHAR | 5 |
| JAMMU AND KASHMIR | 4 |
| KARNATAKA | 3 |
| ODISHA | 3 |
| PUNJAB | 3 |
| HARYANA | 2 |
| KERALA | 2 |
| ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR LSLANDS | 1 |
| CHANDIGARH | 1 |
| CHHATTISGARH | 1 |
| JHARKHAND | 1 |
| UTTARAKHAND | 1 |
| TOTAL | 130 |
The list of 130 Red Zone Districts State wise is shared below:
     |
VI Arogya Setu App
The government announced the third phase of lockdown till May 17. However, the government is also trying to put in place a graded system for relaxation in some safe areas. To further this goal, the government has come up with a mobile-based application called Arogya Setu App and is encouraging citizens for its wide-scale usage. The app will be used as an e-pass. If the app shows green colour with “you are safe” message on the screen, the person will be able to move around freely.
Arogya Setu is a COVID-19 contact-tracing app developed by the Ministry of Electronics and IT. It detects and tracks the user’s movement with the help of GPS and Bluetooth sensors and sends out a notification if they come in contact with infected people by using its database and algorithms. Users have to enter personal information while registering on the app and the data will be shared only with the Government of India and does not include third parties as mentioned in the app’s privacy policy.
The Aarogya Setu app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. On opening the app, it asks for permission to access the Bluetooth and location of the mobile phone. The app works only when registered with a mobile number and verified via an OTP. An optional form is also shown which asks for personal details such as name, age, occupation, and foreign travel history in last 30 days.
VII FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS) on COVID-19
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, has compiled a set of Frequently Asked Questions. To access the FAQs click here: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/FAQ.pdf