Joining the battle against Covid-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared coronavirus disease a pandemic. Originating from Wuhan in China, it has traversed almost the entire globe, and claimed more than 41,000 lives, while over 8 lakh people are infected already. That’s largely the urban population.

In India, despite all the preparedness and war-like promptness to safeguard against the pandemic, several lives have been lost, and hundreds of individuals have tested positive. While lockdown continues to keep everyone inside their homes, apprehension lingers on the number of undetected cases. India’s population size and density vis-a-vis the level of general awareness, preparedness and facilities available to treat an ailing section is a cause for particular worry. There are only 40,000 ventilators for a population of 1.3 billion.

Rural India is luckily still not much affected by this outbreak. But, that is no reason to be complacent. We are at a crucial juncture to organise millions of villagers of the subcontinent. A big challenge in remote rural areas, apart from inadequate coronavirus healthcare facilities at their doorstep, is the lack of awareness about the pandemic as well as about the measures essential to be safe in these circumstances.

Source: India Water Portal