Focus: GS-III Disaster Management
Why in news?
The new COVID-19 pandemic is clearly “accelerating”, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on 23rd March 2020, but said it was still possible to change its trajectory by going on the attack.
What the WHO had to say?
- The number of officially recorded cases is believed to represent only a fraction of the true number of infections, with many countries only testing the most severe cases in need of hospitalization.
- We are not helpless bystanders. We can change the trajectory of this pandemic.
- Physical distancing could buy time by slowing down the spread.
- But they are defensive measures that will not help us to win. To win, we need to attack the virus with aggressive and targeted tactics.
- Testing every suspected case, isolating and caring for every confirmed case and tracing and quarantining every close contact should be done.
How the World has been trying to control?
- Some 1.7 billion people have been asked to stay home in over 50 countries and territories around the world, according to an AFP tally.
- Some countries have imposed mandatory lockdown measures, while others have issued stay-at-home recommendations to stem the spread of the virus.
- Lockdowns in parts of India alone have kept some 700 million people hemmed in.
- At least 34 more countries and territories have also established mandatory lockdown measures ordering people to stay in their homes, accounting for some 659 million people.
- France, Italy, Argentina, the U.S. State of California, Iraq and Rwanda have also rolled out enforced lockdowns.
