Article from: Interface News App , author : An Jing, picture from: Oriental IC
Prohibition of entry of passengers from EU countries, closure of schools in Mumbai, closure of Bollywood, and closure of the Taj Mahal.
India, a populous country not yet severely affected by the new crown epidemic, has also begun to strengthen measures to prevent the spread of the epidemic.
As of March 17, a total of 125 confirmed cases and three deaths have occurred in India. Most of these cases are imported cases.
Although the number of confirmed cases is small, quarantined persons have fled many times across India since the outbreak. As for why they ran away, some people complained that the health environment of the isolation hospital was too bad.
According to Deadline News Network, The major film production groups in India have negotiated on Monday and agreed to suspend the production of all movies, TV shows and web dramas from March 19 to 31 to slow the spread of the new crown epidemic.
In a statement issued by the Indian Film and Television Producers Association, the crew that has started work in India and abroad has a three-day shutdown. As for when construction will resume, various production groups will discuss this month.
Bollywood, India screens more than 1,000 movies each year. In the first three quarters of last year, the Indian box office revenue increased to nearly 38 billion rupees (about 3.5 billion yuan) , which is higher than the same period in 2018.
At present, movie theaters across India have been closed for business and will continue until 30th of this month.
Besides the closing of Bollywood, the famous Taj Mahal in India and museums, grottoes and temples in many places will be closed until the 31st. The British “Financial Times” said that this is the first time the Taj Mahal has been closed to tourists since 1971, and 50 years ago because of the India-Pakistan war. According to India BrigadeAccording to the Ministry of Tourism, nearly 6.5 million tourists visited the Taj Mahal in 2018.
Also on Monday, the Indian government announced an expansion of travel restrictions to ban non-Indian passengers from the European Union, Turkey, the United Kingdom and European Free Trade Association countries.
Passengers from the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait must be quarantined for 14 days.
India has previously barred passengers from China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, France, Spain and Germany. Most of India’s border sites with Bangladesh and Myanmar have been closed.
Of the 15 states and federal territories where cases have occurred, Maharashtra in western India is the state with the largest number of confirmed cases, with 39 confirmed cases.
Maharashtra has announced the closure of all schools, shopping malls and gyms, and bans large gatherings until the 31st.
The capital Mumbai also asked local hospitals and airport quarantine officers to print the “home isolation” logo on the hands of those who need to be quarantined with non-fading ink on Monday, and marked the specific date when the quarantine ended.
As to why India with a population of 1.3 billion has not yet had a large-scale infection, the New York Times quoted speculation from medical professionals that it may be because many cases have not been detected, or it may be because India has adopted strict measures from the beginning. Track quarantine.
According to the Indian Express, at the end of February, a family in southern Kerala returned to India from Italy, but concealed his travel history to Italy and was diagnosed with the infection.
In order to track the whereabouts of the family after returning to Kerala, the local government found that the family had gathered in restaurants, banks, post offices, churches and other groups through GPS positioning, surveillance video, community surveys and other means. Finally, nearly 900 close contacts were isolated.
Also in Kerala, at the end of January, an international student returning to India from Wuhan was diagnosed with infection, becoming India’s first confirmed case. Subsequently, two more confirmed diagnoses appeared in the state.
Kerala immediately declared a state of emergency and isolated more than 3,000 people. As a result of the timely action, Kerala, with a population of more than 33 million, currently has only 22 confirmed cases, of which three have been cured.
Although stringent quarantine measures have been taken, India has experienced many escapes from quarantine points due to the worrying health conditions of some hospitals and quarantine facilities.
On Monday, 11 quarantined personnel escaped from a hospital in the suburbs of Mumbai, triggering a police search.Earlier, a couple in Agra, Uttar Pradesh returned to India from Europe. The husband was diagnosed with infection last week, but his wife was charged with escaping from the isolation point.
Later, the woman ’s family issued a statement stating that the woman did not refuse to be quarantined and had gone to the hospital as required. “But the extremely unhygienic toilet made her nauseous. We have photos to prove it.”
Last week, a netizen in Mumbai also tweeted complaining that his friend was in isolation and observing at a local hospital, but the hospital ’s sanitary environment was poor and “ca n’t help control the epidemic”.
Picture source: Twitter
In 2019, India ’s public expenditure on healthcare accounted for only 1.28% of GDP, even lower than that of Nepal, Sri Lanka and the island nation of Timor-Leste.
The Indian government is committed to increasing public spending on health to 2.5% of GDP by 2025. According to WHO data, the average annual expenditure on health in low- and middle-income countries accounts for 6% of GDP.
The article comes from: interface News App , author: An Jing