PURPOSE OF THE COVID-19 TASK FORCE

COVID-19 TASK FORCE

Dr.Apeksha Wasudeo
Convener-IGP Young Greens
Committee.

corona11_200331_apeksha_purpose

PURPOSE OF THE TASK FORCE

• Spread awareness about Corona virus
• Persuade Government to take necessary Steps
• Proactive Steps of the Task Force

Spreading Awareness

• Awareness on COVID-19 via social media
• Report government on the present unforeseen conditions
• Posting recent updates of Corona Virus Pandemic
• Address Fake news pandemic
• Lessons from Italy, China and South Korea.
• Proper Communication
• Productive being at home
• Prevention of Disease

Persuade Government to take necessary Steps

• Ensure Accountability of the Government
• Science and Technology
• Catering to the needs of the Migrants
• Addressing Daily Wage Earners
• Questions raised to the Government
• Infrastructure Development
• Looking beyond just Diagnosis and Quarantine
• Criticism of Government
• Measures to be taken by the Government
• Package of Social Security Measures
• Healthcare System in India
• Economic Spinoffs of the Economy
• Addressing a wounded economy
• Lockdown and beyond

Proactive Steps

• Feed Stray Animals.
• Prepare a team of volunteers and give them training on COVID-19.
• Prepare the Contingency plan-if Systems & Institutions collapse.
• Conduct Training.
• Developing Content on Coronavirus
• Motivation-Healthcare Workers and Volunteers
• Role of Frontline Workers
• Fund raising-Private Sector and Citizens

SPREADING AWARENESS

AWARENESS ON COVID-19 VIA SOCIAL MEDIA:

Spreading factual information

• Stages of Disease
• Signs and Symptoms
• Spread & Transmission of COVID 19.
• Personal protective Equipment
• Prevention of Disease

Find mechanisms to stop rumors

• Myths and Facts
• Stop superstition and populism
• Beating saucers andbangingbells won’t help to make the virus disappear

Providing support for correct techniques

• Hand washing with soap

REPORT GOVERNMENT:

• Increase in price of the commodities by sellers
• Police Violence
• Tragedy of daily Wage Earners

POSTING RECENT UPDATES OF CORONA VIRUS PANDEMIC:

• Total Cases, Death Tolls
• Police Violence
• Supply of essential goods
• Utilization of Disaster Management Relief Fund
• Quarantine Measures
• Plight of Migrants

ADDRESS FAKE NEWS PANDEMIC:

• Misleading claims on supposed cures
• Medicine sales pitches
• Conspiracy theories about the outbreak.
• Instructions for individuals to stock up on supplies and food
• Public should be more vigilant
• Prompts urging users to consider the accuracy of content
• Stronger action to stop misinformation

LESSONS FROM ITALY, CHINA & SOUTH KOREA:

Italy

• Late and insufficient response by Italy
• Government failed to communicate the threat
• powerfully enough to persuade Italians to abide by the lockdown rules
• Measures to isolate affected areas and limit the movement of the broader population

China:

Isolation efforts

• Strict social distancing regulations
• Use of technology: tracking of whether they visited a high-risk zone.
• Public health over civil liberties
• Mobilization of state resources: Installation of temperature checkpoints

SouthKorea:

• Aggressive testing
• Service readiness
• Human resource management
• Research and development
• Preparing for Critical care

PROPER COMMUNICATION

• Frontline workers provide Disease counseling
• FLWs to provide relevant information on the COVID-19 Awareness
• Ensure functional COVID Task force Activities
• Ensure orientation and training of health facility service providers
• Importance of hand washing with soap at critical times
• Information on Steps taken by government and incentives
• Use of positive deviants, especially women/mothers-in-law to talk to other families in village

PRODUCTIVE BEING AT HOME

• Learn New Skills
• Enrich your Hobbies
• Planahead
• Read
• Exercise and Meditation

PERSUADE GOVERNMENT

ENSURE ACCOUNTABILITY OF GOVERNMENT:

• Government-appeal to individuals for distribution of burden of the disease
• Release of new funds to fight the virus
• Much needed help from the government agencies to Daily wage earners, small shopkeepers, homeless, sick, inland and foreign travelers
• Private laboratories to charge reasonable for each COVID-19 test.
• Strengthen community surveillance, contact tracing and containment strategy
• Medical personnel training
• Tele-consultation facility
• Focus to hotspots as fresh covid-19 cases are increasing

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Indian medical researchers too have succeeded in making inroads towards its treatment
• Medical interventions
• Potential drugs
• Spend more on health and research than on military and paramilitary forces

CATERING TO THE NEEDS OF THE MIGRANTS:

• Quarantined in the nearest shelter
• Provide temporary shelters, food and other essentials to the poor and needy
• Use the State Disaster Response Fund
• Employers pay wages without deduction
• Landlords have been directed not to demand one month’s rent from workers
• The transportation of all goods,without distinction of essential and non-essential

DAILY WAGE EARNERS:

• Activate DLSA Disaster Management & Unorganized workers Schemes
• Engage DLSA Paralegals to coordinate assistance for stranded/returned labourers
• Activate state and district level helplines for labourers in distress
• Engage with local NGOs who have a strong understanding of relief response to assist in relief measures
• Convert schools/appropriate spaces into shelters

QUESTIONS ASKED TO THE GOVERNMENT:

• How effective the social distancing will be?
• Are not there better ways wherein the daily wage earners, small shopkeepers, homeless, sick, inland and foreign travelers, etcare not ignored completely?
• Do not we need to establish more and more hospitals, medical research centers, virus study centers, laboratories, health camps, medicines, doctors, care givers and donors for facilitating and helping the affected?
• Don’t we need to stop rumors and create an environment of science and technology?
• Don’t we need to build more hospitals instead of expensive statues?
• Don’t we need to spend more on health and research than on military and paramilitary forces?

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT:

• Hospitals, medical research centers, virus study centers, laboratories, health camps, medicines, doctors, care givers, donors must be developed.

LOOKING BEYOND JUST DIAGNOSIS AND QUARANTINE:

• Scope for improvement in terms of development of therapeutic options in India.
• Evaluation of repurposed known drugs
• Passive immunization
• Testing for vaccine potential and new drug design
• Rapid response research and development team to handle viral onslaughts.

CRITICISM OF GOVERNMENT:

• Noise pollution-Ringing Bells and Banging Saucers
• Absence of responsible governmental actions.
• People will die of hunger, unemployment and reverse migration, diseases, frustration and depression
• Several deaths and more than 80,000 cases of infection
• No clarity on how common people would get food, water and other necessities like medicines and healthcare during the lockdown.
• No instructions on how they would maintain a safe distance from one another!
• Concerns over privacy as details of air travelers are leaked online
• Leaked database & shared by social media groups

MEASURES TO BE TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT:

• Rapid mobilization of relevant resources
• Medical collaboration
• Facilitate cross country movement of health professionals
• Collaboration on drug development
• Ensuring basic needs
• Framework for coordination for such scenarios
• Expand the food security system.
• Ensure universal rationing with an expanded food basket.
• Special measures for cooked food in urban areas for the vulnerable population.
• Provision of rations must be universal:
• Bring in a policy shift
• Emergency unemployment insurance
• Self-employed and gig economy workers
• Not Laying off of non-permanent employees

PACKAGE OF SOCIAL SECURITY MEASURES:

• Employers Liability
• National Provident Fund
• Social Security Movement
• Universal Schemes

HEALTH SYSTEM IN INDIA:

Concerns:

• The criticality of health system capacity
• Low testing capacity
• Shortage of health personnel
• Regional disparity in resources
• The weak links in the health system
• Polarization of healthcare facilities
• Health worker safety

WayForward:

• Ramping up testing & hospital capacity
• Involving the private sector
• State-to-State coordination
• Skilling health workers
• Recognizing the importance of Primary-care providers
• Ensuring requisite financial resources
• Release of new funds to fight the Virus
• Trace, test, treat’ mantra helped us control the virus
• Made in India Testing Kits

ECONOMIC SPIN OFFS ON THE ECONOMY:

Concerns

• Lockdown hits MNREGA workers hard
• Job losses
• Drop in demand:
• Financial sector crisis: Credit flow in the economy
• Effect on trade

Way Forward:

• Recovery package for India
• Safety net for the most affected sections:Direct cash transfer, Right to work, Access to food
• Addressing the liquidity squeeze in the financial system.

RBI’s role:

• Addressing disruptions in the economy: Textiles and Leather
• Financing the recovery package
• Reprioritizing expenditure plans
• Savings due to the drop in oil prices

ADDRESSING A WOUNDED ECONOMY:

• Export Sector suffers
• Domestic Demand
• Financial market issues
• Monetary policy
• Repayments to banks can be delayed
• Fiscal Actions-The cost of the people going to private hospitals must also be met by the government.
• The job sector-daily-wage earners and non-permanent/temporary Employees, Tourism

LOCKDOWN AND BEYOND:

Concerns:

• Public health catastrophe
• Fragile public health system

Way Forward:

• Addressing essential requirements:
• Access to healthcare
• Public health response:universally accessible testing system in place to prevent transmission when the lockdown is lifted.
• Combating Misinformation:
• Involving private sector participation in healthcare:
• Economic recovery package

PROACTIVE STEPS

FEED STRAY ANIMALS:

• We need to be more compassionate
• Keep dry food and bigger water bowls that sustains for longer.
• Place food/water bowls right outside your home.

PREPARE A TEAM OF VOLUNTEERS AND GIVE THEM TRAINING ON COVID-19

• Social distancing
• Register with NITI Aayog(Only for Doctors)
• Communicate any issues or Concerns
• Do the assigned duties

PREPARE THE CONTINGENCY PLAN-IF SYSTEMS & INSTITUTIONS COLLAPSE:

• Local Governance
• Grow own Food

CONDUCT TRAINING-

• Preparation of home made masks & sanitizers
• Hand Washing

DEVELOPING CONTENT ON CORONAVIRUS:

• News Updates
• Awareness Articles

MOTIVATION-HEALTHCARE WORKERS AND VOLUNTEERS:

• Compensation of their Work
• Good living conditions

ROLE OF FRONTLINE WORKERS:

Key messages to spread for prevention of COVID-19

• Practice Social Distancing
• Practice Hand Hygiene

Your role in early detection and referral

• How to use masks (or cloth covering the nose and mouth)
• Instructions for the person being Home Quarantined
• Instructions for the caretaker of the Home Quarantined person
• How to use masks (or cloth covering the nose and mouth):

FUNDRAISING TO FIGHT COVID-19:

• Citizen donations to support the government
• Micro-donations

Key Messages-Hand washing

Hands should be washed regularly at all times with soap

Hand washing to be effective it must be done properly and all 6 steps

RECOMMENDATIONS

Environment and migration: Address the issue of deteriorated environment.

Early screening, initiating travel restrictions

Increase in Healthcare facilities

Individuals can do their part

systems approach and the mobilization of all stakeholders to respond.

Economic measures to stabilize and stimulate the economy

Build guest rooms for migrants and travelers: compassionate towards migrants

Constant, consistent and credible communication to provide necessary public health guidance

Thank You