India is the second country in the world to be most affected by the one-year corona virus

Michela Vigvera

New Delhi, Jan 30 (EFE) .- A year ago today, when an Indian student from Wuhan University tested positive, India confirmed the first case of corona virus in its region. Now, after 10.7 million epidemics, the country is seeing the end of an epidemic that has engulfed the economy and affected the daily lives of millions of people.

The souvenir business run by Karam Magan and Manoj Kumar at a tourist market in the heart of New Delhi has been open for more than half a century and has not faced a crisis like the current one, with about 70% of customers falling.

“We are opening our stores without customers and non-profit. We have to pay for electricity, taxes and the staff who work here,” he lamented.

His co-worker Kumar said, “Now there are 10 to 20 people a day entering the store (and there were many more whether they buy it or not”, thus forcing prices to fall to reduce losses. Multiply.

Total stop

With a population of 1,350 million and a weakened health system, the Government of India, almost two months after the first case of the corona virus was detected, opted for a drastic measure to prevent the rapid spread of the epidemic: the total blockage of the population, with only basic services allowed to open.

The sudden move, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24, just hours before it took effect, immediately triggered a humanitarian crisis, leaving hundreds of migrant workers stranded in cities and towns without money. Without the opportunity to return to their villages. .

Many of them took to the road, walked hundreds of kilometers and walked with some possessions, and then rejected themselves for fear that they would carry the frightening virus into their own community, much of which was little known at the time.

The tight control, which lasted until June, then begins an expansion that, with the exception of a few international flights, maintains some restrictions, such as closing borders, during which time India’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by -23, 9%.

“India has chosen short-term suffering for long-term gains (to get),” said KV, Chief Economic Adviser to the Finance Ministry. Subramaniam, while presenting the growth forecasts for this financial year and next.

According to the annual survey released yesterday, India’s GDP will fall by 7.7% in the current financial year (between April 2020 and March 2021), followed by rapid growth of 11% in fiscal 2020.

Infections are contagious

At the start of the outbreak in June, it was accompanied by a strong relapse in corona virus cases, which added to a general panic over this new infection that led to the collapse of many hospitals.

The fear also reached the Tenth School Hospital of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, one of the private centers selected by the regional government to treat Kovit-19 patients.

“At first it was very stressful because until September we were in the same hospital. (The center) had about 200 beds, but we had 400 patients admitted. Director of the Department.

To this situation, he added, added the resignations of many health workers who refused to treat patients with the corona virus, although little by little the situation stabilized.

India is the second most affected country, behind the United States with 10.7 million cases (with nearly 30 million infections), and the fourth highest number of deaths with 154,147. .

In addition, the recovery rate is about 97%, which is one of the highest in the world, explains Dr. Alvarez-Uria, among other factors, because the population is “very young” than other Western countries, only 5% over the age of 65, because “the Indian population is more prone to infections.” Likely. “

Vaccine Campaign

For the total fall of the epidemic curve in June, the country now has a strong climate of optimism, defined as the “largest vaccination campaign in the world” since January 16, which is expected to reach about 300 million people in the first half of the year.

At this new stage of the fight against the epidemic, India is also in a special position as it produces two vaccines against the corona virus: Govshield, Anglo-Swedish laboratory Astrojeneca and Oxford University and Kovacs, Indian laboratory Bharat Biotech, although the formula has not yet completed its clinical trials. Used.

“People will be vaccinated and then they will come to the markets now. We hope the business will start to improve,” said Kumar. EFE

mvg-mt / daa / amg