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India Scrambles to Escape a Coronavirus Crisis. So Far, It's Working
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/world/asia/india-coronavirus.html
Fears are growing about what happens if community transmission takes off in the crowded areas of the world’s second-most-populous nation.
NEW DELHI — Over the weekend in Lucknow, one of India’s bigger cities, young people packed into pubs. Despite the Indian government scrambling to lock things down, few on the bar scene were taking the coronavirus very seriously.
“I am not scared. I eat, party, sleep,’’ said Akshay Gupta, an accountant who was bar hopping on Saturday night. “The scare is overhyped.”
India has reported around 125 cases of the coronavirus, and it is a bit of a mystery how the world’s second-most-populous nation, with 1.3 billion people, has remained relatively unscathed while the number of cases explodes to its east and west. That has spawned a sense of almost disbelief about the crisis in some quarters.
Doctors say it is either that there are many more cases in India than have been detected, because of the difficulties of getting tested, or that India has indeed managed to so far escape the worst, possibly because of quick and strict efforts right from the start.
In Kerala, in the south, the authorities used GPS technology, CCTV footage and mobile phone records to trace the movements of one Indian family believed to be among the first infected here. They returned from Italy in late February, and within days, medical teams fanned out to all the places they had visited including banks, restaurants and churches and quickly quarantined just about everyone they had come in contact with — nearly 1,000 people.
India was also one of the first nations to essentially shut its borders, canceling visas and denying entry to all but a select few foreigners. Some states, such as Kerala, are beginning to beef up internal borders, taking the temperature of passengers in cars and screening people on trains.
Fears are growing about what happens if community transmission takes off in the crowded areas of the world’s second-most-populous nation.
NEW DELHI — Over the weekend in Lucknow, one of India’s bigger cities, young people packed into pubs. Despite the Indian government scrambling to lock things down, few on the bar scene were taking the coronavirus very seriously.
“I am not scared. I eat, party, sleep,’’ said Akshay Gupta, an accountant who was bar hopping on Saturday night. “The scare is overhyped.”
India has reported around 125 cases of the coronavirus, and it is a bit of a mystery how the world’s second-most-populous nation, with 1.3 billion people, has remained relatively unscathed while the number of cases explodes to its east and west. That has spawned a sense of almost disbelief about the crisis in some quarters.
Doctors say it is either that there are many more cases in India than have been detected, because of the difficulties of getting tested, or that India has indeed managed to so far escape the worst, possibly because of quick and strict efforts right from the start.
In Kerala, in the south, the authorities used GPS technology, CCTV footage and mobile phone records to trace the movements of one Indian family believed to be among the first infected here. They returned from Italy in late February, and within days, medical teams fanned out to all the places they had visited including banks, restaurants and churches and quickly quarantined just about everyone they had come in contact with — nearly 1,000 people.
India was also one of the first nations to essentially shut its borders, canceling visas and denying entry to all but a select few foreigners. Some states, such as Kerala, are beginning to beef up internal borders, taking the temperature of passengers in cars and screening people on trains.
I include the pic of a no touch infrared thermometer because several DUers didn't know it exists. It's very common in Asia.
Some DUers have expressed concerns about India since they have a very large population and crowding is a part of life. They're taking it very seriously. Kerala, one of the most leftist states, is cracking down hard. My uncle just flew there from the US before the travel bans. One person on the flight has tested positive for COVID-19 so everyone on that flight got called back and put in quarantine until they can be tested negative. They quarantine very quickly. Trump's government doesn't like testing, but other countries do.
It varies. In some ways Modi's administration can be as bad as Trump's but many state and city governments are taking it more seriously.
Lots of Indians have good quality masks handy all the time because the air pollution is so bad there.
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The one I have seen looks just that one in the picture, and they are under $100.
I got my vents cleaned and the HVAC tech was using it on every vent, super quick too.
The medical one is a little different from the HVAC one. Still super quick and widely available. When I was traveling in China 11 years ago, every airport would check everyone's temp before getting off the plane, and every hotel checks it as soon as you walk in the door.
Oh Darwin!
