Breathe... in the Times of COVID -19

Coronavirus disease, 2019 - The Stranger things actually happened ...

To trace the virus’s origin, it’s crucial to pin down exactly when and why the first case of Covid 19 occurred. The WHO team established that the first person known to have COVID-19 was an office worker in Wuhan with no recent travel history and also mentioned that the suspected patient began showing symptoms on 8 December 2019.

However, researchers also suggest that many early infectees ( survivors of 2002–2004 SARS outbreak) were workers at the Huanan Seafood Market, so the virus might have originated from the market. Other research indicates that visitors may have introduced the virus to the market, which then facilitated rapid expansion of the infections.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ( previously referred to by its provisional name, 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV),) is the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus that is contagious in humans. It is the successor to SARS-CoV-1, the virus that caused the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak.

Bats are considered the most likely natural reservoir of SARS-CoV-2, but differences between the bat coronavirus and SARS-CoV-2 suggest that patients were infected via an intermediate host.

Human-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed on 20 January 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Transmission was initially assumed to occur primarily via respiratory droplets from coughs and sneezes within a range of about 1.8 metres (6 ft). Indirect contact via contaminated surfaces is another possible cause of infection.

The first case of COVID-19 infection was reported in Kerala, India in January 2020. A 20 yr old female, presented to the Emergency Department in General Hospital, Thrissur, Kerala, disclosed that she had returned to Kerala from Wuhan city, China, on January 23, 2020, owing to the COVID-19 outbreak situation in China.

India - Fighter or Survivor?

India takes up the fight against Coronavirus by implementing powerful procedures such as Aggressive testing, Contact tracing, Social distancing, and Vaccinations programs. Additionally, huge amounts of N95 masks and PPE kits are distributed in Indian states and UTs. India launched the ‘Aarogya Setu’ mobile app, developed by National Informatics Centre, for tracking the movements.

Phased Lockdown and Unlock

The 14-hour voluntary public curfew on 22 March was followed by a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, as ordered by the Government of India On 24 March 2020. On 1 May, the Indian Government extended the nationwide lockdown further by two weeks until 17 May and later announced the extension till 31 May. The Government divided all the districts into three zones based on the spread of the virus—green, red, and orange—with relaxations applied accordingly.

On 30 May, it was announced that lockdown restrictions were to be lifted from then onwards, while the ongoing lockdown would be further extended till 30 June for only the containment zones. Services would be resumed in a phased manner starting from 8 June. It was termed "Unlock 1.0". Modi later clarified that the lockdown phase in the country was over and that 'unlock' had already begun.

The second phase of unlocking, Unlock 2.0, was announced for the period of 1 to 31 July, 2020 with more ease in restrictions. Unlock 3.0 was announced for August,2020. Similarly, Unlock 4.0 was announced for September,2020 and Unlock 5.0 for October,2020. In the same way, Unlock 6.0 was announced for November, 2020. Unlock 7.0 was announced for December,2020. Unlock 8.0 was announced for January,2021 and Unlock 9.0 was announced for February,2021. Unlock 10.0 was announced for March,2021.

The nationwide lockdown introduced us to panic-buying, wherein people were seen crowding up shops and stores to stock essentials. Arrests across the states were made for violating norms of lockdown such as venturing out for no emergency reason and home quarantine violations. Fortunately, e-commerce vendors ensured a seamless supply of essentials across the nation during the lockdown period. Motivating incidents such as lighting up candles and flashlights with mobiles to show solidarity with the health workers, police, and all those fighting the disease brought a sense of unity among Indians.

How did the pandemic affect the Indian Economy?

The spread of COVID 19 has left the national economy and businesses in a serious situation.

Because of New variants of the virus, governments struggle with new measures to tackle the spread of the virus.

A difficult year for employment opportunities

Many people have lost their jobs or seen their incomes cut. Unemployment rates have increased across major sectors. In January 2021, India saw an unemployment rate of over six percent. This was a significant improvement from the previous month. Unemployment went up to nearly 23.52 percent in April 2020. In the United States, the unemployment rate is nearly 8.9%.

Effect on Gross Domestic Product

In 2020-2021, GDP is declined by 23.9 % in the first quarter and by 7.5 % in the second quarter. Overall GDP is expected to decline by 7.7% in 2020-2021, whereas in 2019-2020, the growth rate was 4.2%.

Impact on the stock market

The major Asian and US stock markets have recovered following the announcement of the first vaccine in November, but the FTSE ( Financial Times Stock Exchange) dropped tremendously. (The FTSE dropped 14.3% in 2020, its shocking performance since 2008)

Central banks in many countries have reduced interest rates. That should, in theory, make borrowing cheaper and encourage spending to boost the economy.

Travel still far from taking off

The travel industry has been badly damaged, with airlines cutting flights and customers canceling business trips and holidays. Countries all over the world applied travel restrictions to limit the coronavirus spread. New variants of the virus, discovered only in recent months, have forced many countries to introduce tighter travel restrictions.

With both flights, domestic and international, and domestic train operations suspended, the Indian tourism industry is projected to have a revenue loss of nearly Rs 1.25 trillion in calendar 2020 as a result of the shutdown of hotels and suspension of flight operations after the spread of the virus.

The hospitality sector has been badly damaged

Travel restrictions owing to COVID-19 continue to impact hospitality, travel, and tourism sectors within India and around the world. The hospitality sector has been hit hard, with millions of jobs and many companies bankrupt.

Hotel bookings worldwide have dropped drastically. Even on the business side, self-employed people or entrepreneurs are planning their business trip for a shorter duration which does not necessitate them to stay in hotels. The change in the perception of travelers is important to bring their confidence back. It will take hotel chains more than introducing new safety protocols to change the perception of the travelers that they are now getting accustomed to and achieve their confidence back.

Many reports show that over 35 million hotel and rental listings worldwide have registered a fall in reservations in all the top travel destinations.

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan or Self-reliant India campaign is the vision of new India envisaged by the Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. On 12 May 2020, our PM raised a clarion call to the nation mentioning the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan (Self-reliant India campaign) and announced the Special economic and comprehensive package of INR 20 lakh crores to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

The term has been referred about making India a bigger and more important part of the global economy, pursuing policies that are efficient, competitive, and resilient, and being a self-sustaining and self-generating country. During the Independence Day speech in 2020, Prime Minister Modi said that the mindset of India should be 'vocal for local' to appreciate our made-in-India products.