Case of India’s Success in Taming Covid

Livemint     8th February 2021     Save    

Context: Prompt action, demography and hardened immunity may explain our surprise performance

 India's Success in Taming Covid

  • Lower cumulative Covid deaths: than the United States despite a huge population of 1.4 billion (If the US and United Kingdom similar population size, it would have suffered 12 and 15 times)
  • Higher Case fatality rate decline: from a peak of 3.4% on 16 June (the world rate was 5.4%) to 1.4% on 1 February (the world rate was 2.2%).

Factors responsible for India's Success in Taming Covid

  • Swift government action: in terms of conducting large scale testing, spreading awareness through ring tunes based cautionary messages and huge production of Personal Protective Equipment.
    • Complementary Contribution of health workers and citizens in wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
  • Age profile: more than half of the population is below 25(more resilient to the virus) and only 4.8% above 65(people who are most at risk).
  • Hardened immunity: According to a study, there is a positive correlation between improved hygiene and higher incidence of autoimmune disorders with covid-19 mortality.
    • Countries with prior exposure to a diverse range of microbes and bacteria are nearing herd immunity.
    • Individuals living in crowded, filthy areas (like Delhi, Mumbai slums) have prior exposure to covid antibodies.