M. Sevala Naik | India and Jamaica: United in combating COVID-19

The global COVID-19 spread has gone from bad to worse, with over 3.2 million confirmed cases and close to 250,000 deaths, not only has this pandemic claimed innumerable lives, it has also destabilised economies by freezing trade and other economic activity.

Indian response

India reported its first COVID-19 case on January 30, 2020, when a student returning from Wuhan was tested. Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a three-week nationwide lockdown on March 24 when the number of COVID-19 cases in India was only 500.

The lockdown has been further extended to May 3. All incoming international passenger flights were also immediately suspended. COVID-19 testing kits and other medical equipment were procured on war footing, and as of today, India is conducting close to 35,000 tests daily. PPE kits, masks, gloves, and sanitisers have been made available in large quantity.

The ‘Aarogya Setu’ (Literal translation Aarogya = Healthy or free from disease, Setu = Bridge) app, which tells if a person has been within six feet distance of a confirmed COVID-19 case through location tracking and Bluetooth, has been downloaded by more than 80 million Indians in less than 30 days. The whole country has been divided into red, orange, and green zones, depending on the number of cases reported. This has helped in apportioning resources and taking swift measures to contain COVID-19 spread.

Train coaches have been converted into isolation wards for treating COVID-19 patients. Some Indian states have also started ‘pool testing’ for random testing purposes by which a single testing kit could be used to test a maximum of 64 persons together. If the result is negative, none of those tested is infected while if the result is positive, all individuals are then tested separately.

The massive lockdown in India has produced good results. Our modelling estimates posit that without the lockdown, India could have had up to one million cases by this time. With the lockdown, we have limited these to around 30,000 cases and have managed to contain 80 per cent of the cases to just 78 of over 600 districts in India. The number, while worrisome, is small compared to where other countries were at this stage of the crisis.

Steps to cushion economic impact

Despite the continued lockdown, the IMF has recently predicted that India would emerge as the fastest-growing major economy this year with a growth rate of around 2 per cent. Measures announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) since early February will inject cash equivalent to 3.2 per cent of the country’s GDP. The policy lending rate was cut by 75 basis points, the effective deposit rate has been slashed by 90 basis points, and the cash-reserve ratio has been reduced to 3 per cent. All lenders can freeze repayments for three months on term loans outstanding March 1. India opened up a wide swath of its sovereign bond market to overseas investors, taking its biggest step yet to secure access to global indexes as the government embarks on a record borrowing plan.

A total of 800 million people are receiving free 5kg of wheat or rice and 1kg of pulses every month during April to June, and 80 million families are getting free cooking gas. The government has transferred US$5 billion to the accounts of the vulnerable in India to make up for their loss of work. On the insurance front, 2.2 million health workers fighting COVID-19 will get an insurance cover of US$70,000.

Research and development

The COVID-19 crisis has prompted India to vigorously activate its ‘Make in India’ Programme and involve various R & D institutions of the country. This approach has helped in providing a common platform for the haring of best practices, collaboration of work, development of need-based innovations, and in avoiding duplication of research work.

India has been able to put thousands of researchers in the country to work round the clock to develop new testing kits, protective equipment, respiratory devices, etc. Some of the innovations include artificial manual breathing units and an anti-microbial coating to kill COVID-19 virus. Many Indian research institutes are engaged in identifying novel COVID-19 therapies. Six Indian companies are currently working on a vaccine for COVID-19. Indian institutes are also collaborating with the US and the EU for developing a vaccine. Some Indian start-ups have been working overtime to produce low-cost ventilators domestically.

Collaborating with Jamaica

On April 29, India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar and his Jamaican counterpart Kamina Johnson-Smith discussed the COVID-19 pandemic situation in their respective countries and measures to cooperate for a united and better response to the crisis.

The two ministers also discussed enhanced economic and medical cooperation between India and Jamaica in a post-COVID world in order to revitalise their economies and be better prepared for such scenarios in future.

India has decided to provide Jamaica with a number of essential and immunity-boosting medicines along with medical equipment containing surgical masks, gowns, surgical gloves, thermometers, swabs, etc. The medicines and the medical equipment are expected to be delivered to Jamaica very soon. India had earlier approved the donation of 4,000 Hydroxychloroquine tablets to Jamaica in addition to the supply of 19,200 tablets on a commercial basis.

India is also sharing its expertise in the medical domain through online webinars for medical staff of Caribbean and Latin American countries. The next such webinar is scheduled from May 7, 2020, and is open for healthcare workers of Jamaica. The high commission is also conducting free online Yoga classes for the benefit and well-being of the people.

India has already committed US$1 million grant funding for community-development projects in Jamaica during the CARICOM-India Summit held in September 2019. Dr Jaishankar reiterated India’s support for the economic development of the parish of St Catherine through community-development projects.

India has been reaching out to the Caribbean countries and other countries in Latin America as part of its global efforts in containing the COVID-19 crisis.

The vibrant Indian community in Jamaica is also doing its bit by donating medicines, groceries, and food to those in need. I urge them to stand shoulder to shoulder with their Jamaican brethren in these challenging times.

Collaborating with other countries

On March 15, India coordinated a video conference of all neighbouring countries to discuss the COVID-19 situation and also to set up an emergency fund. PM Modi also participated in the Extraordinary Virtual G-20 Leaders meeting on COVID-19 and has personally spoken to more than 25 heads of state and international bodies to discuss collaboration in these difficult times.

India provided China with 15 tons worth of medical supplies, including surgical gloves, N-95 masks, and defibrillators in the last week of February.

Since then, India has already provided tons of medical supplies to many countries, including Afghanistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Nepal, as well as the dispatch of medical teams to some of these countries.

Owing to the global requests for export of Hydroxychloroquine and Paracetamol tablets, India has lifted the ban on their export and is supplying them to 55 countries as donations and on commercial basis. US President Donald Trump, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu have thanked Indian PM Modi after India decided to ship the medicines. Several other countries, including the United Kingdom, have also expressed gratitude.

India is closely following the evolving COVID-19 situation in Jamaica and the appreciation received by the country across all quarters for its efforts. While having contained the COVID-19 crisis thus far with smart and timely measures and with the cooperation of the Jamaican people, there is no space for complacency. Even after this present crisis is over, reinvigorating economic activity will be a challenge. India looks to Jamaica for increased multifaceted collaboration, especially in health and economic domains, for the mutual benefit of the people of both countries.

- M. Sevala Naik is the High Commissioner of India to Jamaica. Send feedback to hcoffice.kingston@mea.gov.in or columns@gleanerjm.com.