How China contained the deadly Coronavirus

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  How China contained the deadly Coronavirus

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Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

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• India emulating China: The Indian PM in a speech called for a decentralised decision-making in containing the pandemic on the lines of China’s model. The world saw the draconian lockdowns China did in early 2020, and the near total opening-up of its economy in 2021.
• How China did it: The epidemic was seen as a significant threat to the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party and all party resources were mobilised to tackle this challenge. At the grassroots, the residential committees (RCs) played a significant role. Initially they were mandated to perform some administrative tasks, assist government agencies with maintaining public surveillance, health and sanitation, care for the elderly, etc. They are instrumental for the party’s for effective governance and political control. At the outbreak of the epidemic, these RCs soon took charge.
• Residential Committees' response: In Wuhan, the epicentre of the pandemic outbreak, Community workers strictly enforced rules of entry and exit. No residents were allowed to leave and no non-residents were allowed to access the community area other than for essential medical needs or epidemic control operations. 

1. Volunteers were assigned shifts at the gates of the communities and checked access passes. They made calls to residents asking about family members’ health and status, knocked on residents’ doors to conduct regular temperature checks, gather information about travel history, etc. They provided home delivery of daily food necessities to people in self-quarantine and elderly residents. 
2. They also did other essential tasks -tracing contact, registering each individual, placing sick persons under community management and transferring them to designated medical facilities for quarantine.    
3. Provisions were made to benefit the workers by providing subsidies, provision of health equipment, insurance, publicity and other institutional support. Despite some challenges, the epidemic has been successfully contained in Wuhan and elsewhere in China which gave much hope to others. 

• What India may do: Many urban areas have residential associations and local governments that can act like RCs in China. This has to be done with a centralised plan of action, which is the key aspect of China model. There have to be clear channels to pass down resources and authority from central to local organisations. Volunteers can be mobilised information dissemination, service delivery and to promote social distancing. Youth can form small committees to ensure adherence to COVID-19 restrictions. States should decide on lockdowns and other measures needed to contain the pandemic.
• Learnings: Indian states should not be left with the sole responsibility of handling the pandemic, else it will only increase policy incoherence and unequal access to states with different fiscal capacities and healthcare infrastructure. The need of the hour is for the central leadership to step up and coordinate policy measures across the country.
• Summary: India's economic trajectory will be severely compromised if the pandemic is not brought under control soon enough. No leader at any level in India, now, can escape responsibility from contributing to pandemic control.  

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

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