[Indian Year Book 2022-23]* Indian Year Book Notes | Chapter 1. Dealing with the Pandemic

Indian Year Book

(2022-23)

Chapter – 1. Dealing with the Pandemic

 

The Beginning

Ø  ON December 31, 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) was informed by the national authorities in China of cases of pneumonia of unknown causes in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Ø  The Chinese authorities identified a novel virus namely, Coronavirus as the cause of the pneumonia cases. Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe complications.

Ø  By March 2020, the rapid increase in the number of cases outside China led the WHO to announce that the outbreak could be characterised as a pandemic. S

 

Reservoir and Origin  

• Ø  A WHO report of March 2021 stated that human spillover via an intermediate animal host was the most likely explanation, with direct spillover from bats next most likely. Introduction of the virus through the food supply chain at the Huanan Seafood Market was considered another possible, but less likely, explanation.
• Ø  For a virus acquired through a cross-species transmission, rapid evolution is expected. Coronaviruses in general have high genetic plasticity, but viral evolution of SARS-CoV-2 is slowed by the RNA (Ribonucleic acid) Proofreading capability of its replication machinery.

 

Animal Connection

• Ø  Bats are considered the most likely natural reservoir of SARS-CoV-2. Differences between the bat coronavirus and SARS-CoV-2 suggest that humans may have been infected via an intermediate host; although the source of introduction into humans remains unknown.

 

Covid Arrives in India and Government Response

Ø  The increasing magnitude of this outbreak in India called for a pre¬emptive, proactive, graded, whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach, built around a comprehensive strategy to prevent infections, save lives and minimise the impact.

Ø  Junta curfew and 21 day lockdown was quickly enforced to curb the immediate threat.

Ø  Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were formulated and released related to the movement of people stranded at different places within the country, including migrant labourers.

Ø  Seamless availability of essential items was also ensured in an organised and effi cient manner.

Ø   With the aim of bringing home the Indians stranded in many countries due to the pandemic, the government launched the Vande Bharat Mission.

 

 

Breaking the chain

• Ø  The government followed the ‘test, track and treat’ strategy diligently.
• Ø  The government prepared about 60 guidelines/SOPs/advisories for the management of Covid-19. These guidelines included (i) medical emergency planning, (ii) availability of hospitals, isolation and quarantine facilities, disease surveillance and testing, (iii) ensuring availability of essential medical equipment, (iv) augmenting human resource and capacity building, (v) supply chain and logistics management, (vi) coordination with the private sector, (vii) economic and welfare measures, (viii) information, communications and public awareness, (ix) technology and data management, (x) public grievance and (xi) strategic issues related to lockdown.

 

Economic Support:

Ø  Immediate actions were taken by the administration and 1.70 lakh crore relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) was released for the poor to help them get over the economic fall-out.

Ø  The Prime Minister, on May 12, 2020, announced a special economic package and gave a clarion call for Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Ø  The package, combining the earlier Covid-19 economic packages and decisions taken by the RBI, was summed up to 20 lakh crore, equivalent to almost 10 per cent of India’s GDP.

Ø  Free foodgrains worth 8 crore were provided to migrant labourers and their families.

Ø  Additionally, on May 13, 2020, to strengthen India’s fi ght against the disease, PM CARES (Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations) Fund Trust allocated 3,100 crore to be used for the purchase of ventilators, relief measures for migrants and vaccine development.

 

Medical Infrastructure:

Ø  A three-tier arrangement of health facilities was created for the appropriate management of infected cases.

Ø  It included (i) Covid Care Centre with isolation beds for mild or pre-symptomatic cases; (ii) Dedicated Covid Health Centre (DCHC) with oxygen supported isolation beds for moderate cases and (iii) Dedicated Covid Hospital (DCH) with ICU beds for severe cases.

Ø  Tertiary care hospitals under ESIC, defence, railways, paramilitary forces, and the Ministry of Steel were leveraged for case management.

Ø  Guidelines on clinical management of infected cases were issued and regularly updated and widely circulated.

Ø  The country’s public health efforts were strongly supported by its research and development capacity in developing vaccines against Covid-19.

Ø  India is one of the largest global suppliers of vaccines producing nearly 60 per cent of the world’s vaccines.

Ø  The National Task Force on Vaccine Development was formed in April 2020 to set up the process for Coronavirus vaccine development and provided the necessary impetus in this direction.

Ø  FSSAI also released an e-handbook on “Eat Right during Covid-19” for citizens, which highlights safe food practices to be followed diligently and tips on health and nutrition.

 

IT to the rescue:

Ø  Covid-19 National Teleconsultation Centre (CoNTeC) was started by AIIMS, Delhi. Its aim was to cater to doctors, from anywhere in the country, who wanted to consult AIIMS faculty for the management of Covid.

Ø  e-Sanjeevani—a web-based comprehensive telemedicine solution was utilised to extend the reach of specialised healthcare services to masses in both rural areas and isolated communities.

Ø  An “Inter-disciplinary AYUSH R&D Task Force” was formed to prepare clinical research protocols for AYUSH prophylactic studies and add-on interventions in Covid-19 positive cases.

Ø  Dos and Don’ts were widely circulated through SMS. Caller-tune messages were sent to telecom subscribers in 13 languages.

 

Dealing with Oxygen crisis:

Ø  An anti-Covid drug 2-DG was launched on May 17, 2021. The drug reduces the dependence of patients on oxygen administration and has the potential of getting absorbed differentially and in a selected manner.

Ø  The PM CARES Fund Trust had already allocated 201.58 crores for installation of additional 162 dedicated Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) Medical Oxygen Generation Plants inside public health facilities.

Ø  Further, to address the shortage of oxygen tankers in the country, the central government imported 20 cryogenic tankers of 10 MT and 20 MT capacity and allocated them to the states.

Ø  A Plant of —1 MT capacity was built by DRDO with assistance from the PM CARES fund.

Ø  PM CARES also allocated funds for the installation of 500 Medical Oxygen Plants across the country.

Ø  Oxygen Expresses were started by Indian Railways on April 24, 2021, to provide respite to the states requiring medical oxygen.

Ø  As part of operation ‘Samudra Setu II’, seven Indian Naval ships were deployed for shipment of liquid medical oxygen-fi lled cryogenic containers and associated medical equipment from various countries.

Ø  It must be noted the Operation Samudra Setu was launched in 2020 by the Indian Navy for repatriating the Indian citizens stranded in neighbouring countries back to India.

 

Dealing with Black fungus:

Ø  Even as the country was dealing with this surge of Covid-19 cases, another threat posed by a fungus, Mucormycosis (Black Fungus) was being reported in a few patients during or post-recovery.

Ø  The Government of India proactively made all-around efforts to ramp up the supply and availability of Amphotericin-B anti-fungal drug for the treatment of Mucormycosis and supplemented the domestic availability of this anti-fungal drug through import.

 

Care for Children:

Ø  A special scheme ‘PM-CARES for Children’ was launched for children who lost both the parents or surviving parent or legal guardian/adoptive parents due to Covid-19.

Ø  Under this scheme, all such children will get a monthly stipend once they turn 18 and a fund of 10 lakh when they turn 23 from PM CARES for their personal and professional use.

Ø  Besides the fi nancial support, free education will be ensured for such children and they will also be assisted to get an education loan for higher education and the interest will be paid by the PM CARES.

Ø  Also, all such children will be enrolled as a benefi ciary under Ayushman Bharat Scheme (PM-JAY) with a health insurance cover of 5 lakh and the premium amount for these children till the age of 18 years will be paid by PM CARES.

 

World’s Largest Vaccination drive:

Ø  Phase-I of the National Covid-19 vaccination Strategy was launched on January 16, 2021 that focused on protecting Health Care Workers (HCWs) and Front-Line Workers (FLWs).

Ø  Phase-II, initiated from March 1, 2021, focused on protecting the most vulnerable population (persons above 60 years of age and persons above 45 years with associated specifi ed co-morbidities). This further relaxed to include all people above 45 years of age on April 1.

Ø  In Phase-III, initiated on May 1, 2021, everyone above the age of 18 became eligible for the vaccine. Covid-19 vaccination continued to be free for eligible population groups in all the Government covid vaccination centres.

Ø  Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) launched the ‘Medicines from the Sky’ project in Telangana under which drugs and vaccines were delivered using drones.

Ø  Permission was granted to ICMR for conducting experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) vaccine delivery in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Manipur, and Nagaland.

Ø   India’s foreign policy is governed by its age-old maxim of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”-The World is One Family, which prompted India’s unique initiative of Vaccine Maitri (Vaccine Friendship).

 

Efforts by Different Ministries/Departments

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Ø  Specifi c packages were notifi ed under Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (ABPMJAY) for testing and treatment of infection.

Ø  An express empanelment mechanism, Hospital Empanelment Module (HEM) Lite was launched for empanelment of hospitals.

Ø   Indian Red Cross Society: In the initial phase of the outbreak, volunteers were trained, and awareness and prevention programmes were conducted to sensitise people and vulnerable communities.

Ø  CoWIN App: The CoWIN app was developed to track and support vaccination across the country. The app has also been integrated with DigiLocker and UMANG for getting certifi cates of vaccination.

Ø  Telemedicine Solution- eSanjeevani OPD.

 

Ministry of Home affairs:

Ø  Screening people entering India in view of virus threat.

Ø  MHA asked private agencies to avoid lay-offs during lockdown.

Ø  Unhindered movement of essential goods ensured during lockdown.

Ø  Issued advisories to state/UTs to make adequate arrangements for migrant workers, students etc.

Ø  Took measures to fight fake news in order to prevent Covid-19 panic.

 

Defence Research and Development Organization(DRDO)

Ø  In the time of the need DRDO transformed itself from missile maker to mask designer for saving lives.

Ø  Covid care Hospitals: created make shift hospitals

Ø  IgG Antibody ELISA detection kit

Ø   Anti covid therapeutic drug 2-DG(2-deoxy-D-Glucose) was developed by DRDO

Ø  Oxycare: a unique system which senses the individual’s SPO2 level and accordingly supplies oxygen from cylinder.

 

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

Ø  Aarogya Setu: app used for contact tracing and awareness about government initiatives

Ø  Aarogya Setu IVRS Syatem

Ø  RT-PCR and RATI mobile App: for restricted use by authorized sample collectors

Ø  Work from Anywhere portal: Secured integrated portal for government employees to work from home

Ø  Digital Thermometer

Ø  ePass System: for easy movement of vehicles during lockdown.

 

Ministry of Commerce and Industry

Ø  Enhancing production capacities of essential drugs and other materials (eg: PPE production capacity)

Ø  Supply of tablets like Hydroxychloroquine, Paracetamol etc to many countries.

Ø  Production of Hand Sanitizers: Licenses/permissions expedited to ramp up production

Ø  Monitoring of prices of medical devices: Oxygen concentrators.

 

Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and public distribution

Ø  PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana(PMGKAY): Additional allocation of food grain @5kg per person per month

Ø  Smooth procurement of Foodgrains

Ø  Atmanirbhar Bharat Package: Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Package (ANBP), Department of Food, Civil Supply and Consumer Affairs had made an allocation of about total of 8 LMT of additional foodgrains covering all the states/UTs for stranded migrants, who are neither covered under National Food Security Act (NFSA) nor State Scheme PDS Cards.

 

Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers

Ø  Availability and Augmentation of Drugs: The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) actively led the fight to provide drugs against the disease, not only nationally but also internationally.

Ø  Pricing: The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) fixes the ceiling price of scheduled medicines specified in the first schedule of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), 2013. All manufacturers of scheduled medicines (branded or generic) have to sell their products within the ceiling price (plus applicable Goods and Service Tax) fi xed by the NPPA.

 

Indian Railways

Ø  Shramik special trains

Ø  Free of cost catering services to migrants travelling by Shramik special trains.

 

 

 

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