Daily Analysis of 'The Hindu' - 23rd March, 2020 | Additional Study Material for UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


How to handle a pandemic
?In his book, Everybody Loves a Good Drought,
veteran journalist P. Sainath poignantly details what
it looks like to be a poor family that relies on
government hospitals.
?He remarks how the 1994 plague in India got
unprecedented media attention because unlike
several other diseases, it couldn’t be restricted to
rural areas and urban slums.
?The disease-causing bacteria had the audacity to
enter elite spaces; in Saina th’ s words, “Worse still,
they (the bacteria) can board aircraft and fly club
class to New York. Too many of the beautiful people
felt threatened. ”
K.K. Shailaja is 
Minister for Health 
and Social Justice, 
Government of Kerala
Page 2


How to handle a pandemic
?In his book, Everybody Loves a Good Drought,
veteran journalist P. Sainath poignantly details what
it looks like to be a poor family that relies on
government hospitals.
?He remarks how the 1994 plague in India got
unprecedented media attention because unlike
several other diseases, it couldn’t be restricted to
rural areas and urban slums.
?The disease-causing bacteria had the audacity to
enter elite spaces; in Saina th’ s words, “Worse still,
they (the bacteria) can board aircraft and fly club
class to New York. Too many of the beautiful people
felt threatened. ”
K.K. Shailaja is 
Minister for Health 
and Social Justice, 
Government of Kerala
?COVID-19, although a lot less dangerous than the
plague, was brought to India by infected
passengers flying in from affected nations.
?Peculiar scenario: those who can otherwise
afford private healthcare are now relying on
government facilities to be quarantined and
tested.
?It took a pandemic like COVID-19 for some to
realise what most of India has been dealing with
for decades.
?The case of an Agra woman: she reportedly
resisted the option of being isolated at a public
health facility because “the sight of the
unhygienic toilets made her retch ”.
Page 3


How to handle a pandemic
?In his book, Everybody Loves a Good Drought,
veteran journalist P. Sainath poignantly details what
it looks like to be a poor family that relies on
government hospitals.
?He remarks how the 1994 plague in India got
unprecedented media attention because unlike
several other diseases, it couldn’t be restricted to
rural areas and urban slums.
?The disease-causing bacteria had the audacity to
enter elite spaces; in Saina th’ s words, “Worse still,
they (the bacteria) can board aircraft and fly club
class to New York. Too many of the beautiful people
felt threatened. ”
K.K. Shailaja is 
Minister for Health 
and Social Justice, 
Government of Kerala
?COVID-19, although a lot less dangerous than the
plague, was brought to India by infected
passengers flying in from affected nations.
?Peculiar scenario: those who can otherwise
afford private healthcare are now relying on
government facilities to be quarantined and
tested.
?It took a pandemic like COVID-19 for some to
realise what most of India has been dealing with
for decades.
?The case of an Agra woman: she reportedly
resisted the option of being isolated at a public
health facility because “the sight of the
unhygienic toilets made her retch ”.
?Every year after the Union Budget, newspapers
carry articles critiquing the abysmal allocation
for the health sector.
?This is an apt representation of the consequences
of meagre health spending and lack of motivation
from state institutions to strengthen public
healthcare infrastructure.
Preparing for an outbreak
?Kerala g overnm e nt’ s preparedness for COVID-19
was relatively stronger than other States.
?The government tightened the norms for people
returning from other countries.
Page 4


How to handle a pandemic
?In his book, Everybody Loves a Good Drought,
veteran journalist P. Sainath poignantly details what
it looks like to be a poor family that relies on
government hospitals.
?He remarks how the 1994 plague in India got
unprecedented media attention because unlike
several other diseases, it couldn’t be restricted to
rural areas and urban slums.
?The disease-causing bacteria had the audacity to
enter elite spaces; in Saina th’ s words, “Worse still,
they (the bacteria) can board aircraft and fly club
class to New York. Too many of the beautiful people
felt threatened. ”
K.K. Shailaja is 
Minister for Health 
and Social Justice, 
Government of Kerala
?COVID-19, although a lot less dangerous than the
plague, was brought to India by infected
passengers flying in from affected nations.
?Peculiar scenario: those who can otherwise
afford private healthcare are now relying on
government facilities to be quarantined and
tested.
?It took a pandemic like COVID-19 for some to
realise what most of India has been dealing with
for decades.
?The case of an Agra woman: she reportedly
resisted the option of being isolated at a public
health facility because “the sight of the
unhygienic toilets made her retch ”.
?Every year after the Union Budget, newspapers
carry articles critiquing the abysmal allocation
for the health sector.
?This is an apt representation of the consequences
of meagre health spending and lack of motivation
from state institutions to strengthen public
healthcare infrastructure.
Preparing for an outbreak
?Kerala g overnm e nt’ s preparedness for COVID-19
was relatively stronger than other States.
?The government tightened the norms for people
returning from other countries.
?The next step was to cancel big religious
ceremonies.
?More recently, the government started checking
people at different entry points to the State.
?Learn from China and South Korea: aggressively
trace and test potential cases of COVID-19
?Experts have said that the only reason South
Korea was able to handle the crisis without
imposing any lockdown was because of rampant
testing.
?All of this can be achieved only through clear
political will, strong public healthcare services
and commitment on the part of people.
Page 5


How to handle a pandemic
?In his book, Everybody Loves a Good Drought,
veteran journalist P. Sainath poignantly details what
it looks like to be a poor family that relies on
government hospitals.
?He remarks how the 1994 plague in India got
unprecedented media attention because unlike
several other diseases, it couldn’t be restricted to
rural areas and urban slums.
?The disease-causing bacteria had the audacity to
enter elite spaces; in Saina th’ s words, “Worse still,
they (the bacteria) can board aircraft and fly club
class to New York. Too many of the beautiful people
felt threatened. ”
K.K. Shailaja is 
Minister for Health 
and Social Justice, 
Government of Kerala
?COVID-19, although a lot less dangerous than the
plague, was brought to India by infected
passengers flying in from affected nations.
?Peculiar scenario: those who can otherwise
afford private healthcare are now relying on
government facilities to be quarantined and
tested.
?It took a pandemic like COVID-19 for some to
realise what most of India has been dealing with
for decades.
?The case of an Agra woman: she reportedly
resisted the option of being isolated at a public
health facility because “the sight of the
unhygienic toilets made her retch ”.
?Every year after the Union Budget, newspapers
carry articles critiquing the abysmal allocation
for the health sector.
?This is an apt representation of the consequences
of meagre health spending and lack of motivation
from state institutions to strengthen public
healthcare infrastructure.
Preparing for an outbreak
?Kerala g overnm e nt’ s preparedness for COVID-19
was relatively stronger than other States.
?The government tightened the norms for people
returning from other countries.
?The next step was to cancel big religious
ceremonies.
?More recently, the government started checking
people at different entry points to the State.
?Learn from China and South Korea: aggressively
trace and test potential cases of COVID-19
?Experts have said that the only reason South
Korea was able to handle the crisis without
imposing any lockdown was because of rampant
testing.
?All of this can be achieved only through clear
political will, strong public healthcare services
and commitment on the part of people.
?Follow GoK Direct App, to get instant messages from
the Government of Kerala regarding Covid 19.
?The ‘Break the Chain ’ campaign advocates ideas of
basic cleanliness and hygiene.
?This buffer period should be leveraged by the State
government to strengthen testing facilities so that we
reach a point where a maximum number of symptomatic
individuals can be tested.
?The healthcare system in Kerala is decentralised to
achieve the potential gains of improvement in service
delivery and access.