How some of the countries are actually handling this Covid 19 pandemic which media wont tell us

As of writing of this article,fatalaties due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have crossed 2,50,000 and the number of infections shooted past 3,666,000.Almost all the countries in this world are facing a major health and financial crisis due to this virus which originated in Wuhan province of People’s Republic Of China.Different countries took  different stands against this pandemic which were directed by their leaders respective state of heads.Different countries took different approaches towards this pandemic.Some were more considerate about human life and some were not.We will take a deeper look at all these aspects one by one for the aforementioned countries in the question.Lets start with our own country,India.

a.      India:-PM Narendra Modi response to the Covid 19 pandemic have been very preventive,driven and categorized.Our country under his able leadership have been already on its toes before WHO stated that this disease is public health emergency of international concern on 30^th January 2020.India was way ahead than its predecessors when it enforced the screening of passengers from China and Hong Kong from 18^th January.This shows the far sightedness of our prime minister,Narendra Modi.This was done much before the first reported case of corona in India on 30^th January.

                                                             By 17^th of January, an advisory was issued to aware    people to not go to China without any important purpose.By 30^th, another imminent advisory was issued against travel to China.On 3^rd of February e-visas were aborted for citizens belonging to China.By 22^nd of February another advisory was issued advising people against going to Singapore and screening of flights started for other countries like Nepal, Indonesia and Malaysia.

                                              On 3^rd and 4^th of March more major steps were taken. Suspension of visas for most of the affected countries and screening of passengers from all the remaining countries started.On 5^th of March citizens belonging to Italy and South Korea were required to get a medical certificate before entering our country.By 10^TH of March home isolation was made necessary for people coming from affected countries.BY 22^nd of March all flights coming from foreign countries to India were suspended.

                                                On 24^th of March,21 days national lockdown was imposed by PM.Due to this the growth of the cases was significantly impacted.In view of the the constantly rising cases he extended the lockdown further till 3^rd of May.During this time essential services and commodities were to made available.On 1^st May he further increased the lockdown till 17^th May.The country was divided into Green zone,Red zone and Orange zone.Aarogya Setu app was made to track covid cases.PM CARES FUND was also set up to bring relief to affected people through public donations.

                                              

                                                    To fill a sense of unification among people in this fight against corona virus he asked people to clang utensils to show gratitude towards people in health care and by to light up diyas for 9 minutes at 9 pm.He also gave the slogan “Jaan hai toh jahaan hai” laying emphasis on the importance of life.

                                                    

                                                     Taking in view all the points we can say that he had a very human centric approach towards this pandemic.His focus was on saving lives rather than to save the economy.For this he was applauded by most of the critics.

b.Singapore:-Response in Singapore was headed by Minister for National Development Lawrence Kong and Gan Kim Yong Minister for health  as the co chairpersons with Hsein Loong Prime Minister and Heng Swee.Keat who is the Deputy PM and Minister for finance.Like India the leaders in Singapore also acted early understanding the potential damage this virus can cause.Following steps were taken:-

      1) On January 2, 2020 screening started in all airports for passengers coming from Wuhan

      2)By 22^nd January people who were coming from China were forced to complete 14 days   home quarantine,

      3) By 23^rd January schools were asked to monitor children’s health

      4) From 1^st February distribution of 4 masks started for each household.

      5) By 17^th February stay home notices were issued by the government

      6) Schools were closed from 27^th of March

      7) On 3^rd April Lee Hsein Loong announced much stricter regulations that would be implemented in whole of Singapore from 7^th March to 4^th May atleast.In this all non-essential services and places were closed.Public transport was suspended.Schools were closed till further orders.On 21^st April he announced that the restrictions would continue till 1^st June.By 2^nd May some measures were eased.

                                         Like India, leaders in Singapore also showed awareness and far-sightedness. Their focus was to save human lives rather than thinking about the economy and other sectors. Due to these measures the spread was lessened to a great extent and at the time of this writing only 20 thousand cases were reported and 18 people were killed which is much less than its neighbouring countries.

c)Finland:-The first case was reported in Finland on 29^th January 2020.By 13^th March the cases reached 156 which were alarming for a population just under 5.6 million.The government under the leader of Prime Minister,Sanna Marin didn’t reacted promptly to the situation and no serious restriction were imposed upto this point

                                                   However state of emergency was imposed by the PM along with consent from President. Schools were closed and government houses were shut down. Civilians were told to stay at home.Country borders were closed.Public meeting were restricted.A 15 billion euro economic package was announced for affected business’s.

                                                 During the early stages of the outbreak response was not upto the mark.The leaders took it lightly and underestimated the situation.They probably thought about the implications it would have on economy.But later when the restrictions were imposed the cases were dramatically controlled with the country reporting just 1.9-2 % increase in cases during the past few days.246 deaths have been reported as of now.

d .Canada:-On January 25^th the first case of coronavirus was reported.On 4^th march Justin Trudeau created a committee to check the spread of virus. On March 11^th 1 billion dollars response fund was allotted for provinces and states. On 28^th March wife of PM recovered from the virus outbreak. On April 9 Emergencies act was forced into action with stricter restrictions on the daily activities of its citizens. On April 10 quarantine act was enforced.Schools, bars and restaurants are open in all the territories. Stay at home is order but no strict curfew have been imposed as was done in other countries with such alarming amount of cases.Currently, over 62,000 cases have been reported in Canada and 4,111 killed. Cases are increasing dramatically in the past few days with over 1500 cases are reported being every day.

                                              Justin Trudeau, government of Canada, considered economy well above the wellness of people.They were concerned more about the economic aspects of the pandemic. That’s why there is no strict restriction of people entering from USA which have become the new epicentre of the disease.In some provinces public activity is going on as usual.With such attitude the numbers are bound increase dramatically over the coming days.

e) USA:- USA is the current epicentre of the disease with over staggering 1.12 million confirmed cases and over 67,000 deaths.USA,which is the most powerful country on the face of this planet have failed miserably to tackle this epidemic under the Republican Government led by Donald Trump.Following events unfolded in USA:-

1) The first case was reported on 20^th January.

2) On 29^th January Corona Virus Task Force was announced formally

3) On 31^st January Public Health Emergency was declared

4) By March 12^th, 1500 cases were reported

5)By March 14^th 2700 cases were reported.The exponential rise in cases started which would soon make America the most affected country in the world     

6) By March 16^th Trump just issued new guidelines to limit social gathering not imposing a curfew which was required.This proved fatal for the USA.

7) Unemployment bill was passed on March 25^th to help the economically weaker section.

8) March 28^th:-State of disaster declared in Ohio

9) On 14^th April,Trump stopped funding to WHO.

10) Trump started supporting anti lockdown protests and was very keen on reopening the economy when the cases were shooting exponentially.

                                                       Donald Trump administration failed completely to stop the spread of virus. Even when the cases were increasing on an exponential scale no efforts were made to enforce strict lockdown. The border with the neighbouring country Canada remained open and people were found roaming on beaches defying any advisories. Supporting anti lockdown protest at a time when cases were increasing on a large scale is also condemnable. Trump’s urge to reopen the economy as soon as possible was also criticized by many a lot. Due to all these events USA is now the biggest epicentre of this global pandemic and have the most number of deaths worldwide.Still as of today thousands of people are dying everyday with estimates that the toll will soon cross 100,000.