A COVID-19 control plan made simple (The PM must take immediate control)

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 A COVID-19 control plan made simple (The PM must take immediate control)

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• Fortunately not an epidemic till now: The global spread of COVID-19 is nothing short of an epimedic, but so far, India has been spared. The crisis is looming on the horizon, though.
• Cultural optimism: Indians are always hopeful, and do not react fast when crises arrive, hoping for them to settle down. 

1. The NIPAH virus crisis 2018 in Kerala was handled very well - with surge crisis management ability
2. The SARS 2003 crisis was properly handled (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)
3. The pandemic H1N1 influenza of 2009 was tackled very well
4. However, the seasonal influenza is rarely handled well, and there's no national policy at all. Many die each year. 
5. Learning - India handles short-term crises well, but not steady long-term ones. So good at sprints but not at marathons. 

• Confronting SARS COVID-19: Who is the persona/agency responsible? Actually, there is no single identified agency at all.

1. Union Health Secretary is admin head of MoHFW
2. The NCDC is not officially empowered for epidemic control (National Centre for Diseases Control)
3. The DGHS has only few executive powers (Directorate General of Health Services)
4. ICMR is only into research (Indian Council of Medical Research)
5. The Health Minister is a key person, but this epidemic needs more than one Ministry's intervention, as many sectors are directly affected

• Dedicated disaster management needed: There is only one person who can lead all of these fragmented entities - the Prime Minister himself. 

1. PM must declare a national emergency, and set up a 'war-machinery' with a task-force of experts
2. A 24-hour control room must be set up here
3. All Ministries must support the above effort 
4. Only one goal - Manage the epidemic, minimise the spread, mitigate the suffering of all affected
5. Design the strategy and tactics, and let the Ministries implement those urgently

• This is already late: When the airports were instructed to screen all incoming passengers, and in early Feb, two were found infected with SARS CoV-2 (they were from Wuhan, China!). The emergency control room should have been set up immediately then. Italy was identified as a source, only on March 1 (too late again). That led to a cluster of cases in Kerala in March (due to a family from Italy).
• Why this slip: All existing officer are already tied down in a lot of work, and unless dedicated manpower is made available, this won't be controlled.
• Public education: Make only one agency responsible for educating the public, and giving out information. Now all this strategic direction can only be given by one office - the Prime Minister's. Time for action.
• Summary : Given the fragmented nature of the health systems in India, an effective response to the SARS CoV-2 crisis needs direct control straight from the top - the PM's office.

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