COVID-19 in India - Impact and mitigation strategies

Abstract

The magnitude of the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is exponentially increasing in world causing significant mortality and morbidity. Like other parts of the world, India is also struggling with COVID-19 crisis. As per data by the ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) till June 4, 2020, India had total 2,26,770 confirmed cases of COVID-19, out of which 1,10,960 were active cases, 1,09461 cured/discharged cases with 6348 deaths and one migration. This review deals with the impact of COVID-19 in India and the strategies adopted by the Indian government to mitigate the viral infection. The studies published in the English language and indexed in PubMed were searched using MeSH terms COVID-19, impact, India, and health strategies. Data about strategies were acquired from the government of India official websites, government official news, and documents. Apart from the threat to lives, temporary unemployment, home-schooling of children, and lack of physical contact with family have highly impacted psychosocial health. To curtail the spread of COVID-19 India has implemented staged lockdown, social distancing norms, social media for public awareness, cluster containment, COVID-19 testing and treatment, vaccine trials and non- pharmacological interventions. India is advocating for the global collaboration to deal with relentless virus spread.