Are corona free states really free in India?

The number of coronavirus cases in India has surged past 3.5 lakh while the death toll nears in on 12,000. As per latest figures issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), India's coronavirus case tally stands at 354,065 while the death toll has notched up to 11,903.

Measures were taken by the Indian government on coronavirus are:

1. India has taken some of the stringent measures anywhere to slow the spread of the coronavirus, including placing all 1.3 billion citizens under a nationwide lockdown. The lockdown, which went into effect on March 25 and was extended until at least May 17, led to the shutdown of businesses and transportation.
2. State borders have been sealed, schools and religious sites were closed, and officials are instructing people to stay inside as much as possible.
3. In early May, the government reduced some restrictions to help revive the economy, including allowing construction and plantation work to resume and many shops to reopen, including salons, pet and home, hardware shops and liquor sellers.
4. But the authorities have moved cautiously, fearing rapid viral spread in India’s dense urban neighbourhoods. At many times over the past six weeks, officials have faced daunting challenges implementing the restrictions.

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Effects of lockdown.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the lockdown, thousands of migrant workers were initially abandoned in cities without a way to reach their home villages. Some started 100-mile journeys on foot. With supply chain disruptions across the country, others have relied on the government for food handouts.
How cases are increasing
India’s lockdown has helped blunt the spread of the coronavirus, slowing the nation’s doubling rate from around four days in late March to about 10 days.

How coronavirus cases are growing in different states.

So far, the virus has remained largely constrained to just a few states, with around a third of the country’s cases tracked to two cities -- Mumbai and Delhi -- and superspreader events, including a large March gathering of Muslim missionaries at an Islamic seminary in northern India.

But some parts of India have reported a recent rise in cases and public health experts have warned that the country’s testing figures were still far too restrictive, with slightly more than a million tests administered, or less than one for every thousand people.

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States like Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are noticing sharp increases in cases. Officials in West Bengal have been charged with sitting on high mortality figures. In Punjab, the rate at which new cases were doubling dropped from 18 days to four this past week, largely because of an aggressive outbreak among religious pilgrims returning from Maharashtra, India’s worst affected state.

Coronavirus free states

Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Manipur and Mizoram have successfully treated all of their COVID-19 cases Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, Nagaland and Sikkim are yet to report a single of coronavirus.

• Arunachal Pradesh: The eastern-most state was declared coronavirus free on April 15 when its only patient of COVID-19 was tested negative twice in a span of 24 hours. The man from Medo village in Lohit district had tested positive on April 1.
• Andaman & Nicobar Islands: The coastal Union Territory had reported a total of 33 confirmed cases of coronavirus since the outburst and the last positive case there tested negative on May 7.
• Daman and Diu: This Union Territory has successfully got out of the coronavirus infection so far as it has not reported a single case of the deadly disease.
• Goa: After recording seven COVID-19 cases in a short span, Goa recovered quickly and became the first green state in the country with no active cases on April 13.
• Lakshadweep: Strict screening of people entering and exiting its territory massively helped this UT, which has a population of some 65,000 people. No COVID-19 case has been detected there so far.
• Manipur: The northeastern state reported two cases of COVID-19 and managed to cure them successfully. However, it can change soon as over 1200 migrant workers are all set to return to the state.
• Mizoram: The state was declared coronavirus-free on Saturday after the discharge of the only COVID-19 patient from a hospital. He was discharged from the hospital after four continuous tests turned negative.
• Nagaland: This northeastern state doesn't have a COVID-19 laboratory but it still continues to claim that there is no coronavirus case in the state.
• Sikkim: This state has not recorded a single positive case of COVID-19 and has been praised for its execution of lockdown and following of rules. Even after reporting no case, the local government is considering over shutting down tourism sector till October this year.

But, with an increase in cases all over the country. Corona free states are again getting tangled into this toxic virus.

Corona free states like Nagaland, Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar are constantly facing an increase in the number of positive patients.

Whereas, other corona free states such as Andhra Pradesh, Daman and Diu, Goa, Manipur and Sikkim, are also witnessing high rate of cases.

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Written by Kanishtha Singh, a Mass Communication student at Makhanlal Chaturvedi University(MCU), Bhopal. Interested in covering women and international issues.

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