The global health crisis triggered by the novel coronavirus that originated in China has created a scare among Indians. On January 28, the capital woke up with the news of possibility of coronavirus having reached Indian shores. Three patients presented themselves with symptoms of cough and fever, and were referred to Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. All three had returned from China recently and were suspected with coronavirus infection. Their samples were sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, for testing. While one sample was found to be positive for H1N1 influenza virus, results for the other two are still awaited, says the spokesperson from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
If the coronavirus snowballs into an epidemic, is India equipped to handle it, given the country’s overburdened health infrastructure? According to the Global Health Security Index published in October 2019, most countries are not prepared for the outbreak of serious infectious diseases, and Asian countries, including India, are at significant risk. According to the report, India ranked 57th among 100 countries and the country has several other characteristics that make it vulnerable to the spread of the disease. First, it is among the most densely populated countries in the world. Literacy rates are low, so is general hygiene awareness, and access to clean water, gloves, and masks is limited. Private hospitals are small in number and expensive, while government-run ones are mostly understaffed and unprepared for major crises.
The mobility between India and China is high —six flights a week from Air India and a daily flight from Indigo, among others. Shanghai and Beijing are also transit airports for Indians travelling to other countries such as South Korea and the US. Thus, there is a high possibility of transmission of the virus through people coming in from China.
Kerala, Maharashtra, Bihar and Rajasthan have also raised a red flag. As a precautionary measure, the Kerala government put 663 persons under observation. The epicentre of the epidemic in Wuhan, China, houses many universities where nearly 200 Indian students study. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide assistance to the students and evacuate them. While the Ministry of Civil Aviation is making the necessary arrangements for the same, the individuals who return, will be kept in quarantine for 14 days at various locations in and near Delhi.
The Ministry of Shipping has also pitched in and has initiated screening at all major ports. Despite these efforts, the question remains whether India is prepared to face the music in event of an outbreak. “While the Indian government is putting efforts, the country is hardly prepared for this infection. NIV, Pune, is the only laboratory which is advanced enough to test coronavirus samples. Even if some more are equipped, it is grossly low compared to our needs. We need at least one laboratory per state,” says Dr SP Byotra, Chairperson, Department of Medicine, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi.
Thus, while so far only five laboratories have been identified for testing, the requirement is of 29. He adds that having isolation facilities only in Delhi is not enough. So far that is the only isolation centre set up in the county. As the number of airports for screening of passengers is 21, that is the number of isolation facilities that the experts are looking at. While so far only five laboratories have been identified for testing, the requirement is much more given the scale of population. “Passengers from China are landing in all parts of India from Jaipur to Bengaluru. We need isolation facilities near all the airports wherever screening is happening to ensure that infection does not spread further,” Byotra adds.