Signs and Simptoms of covid-19

Signs and symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may appear two to 14 days after exposure.
This time after exposure and before having symptoms is called the incubation period. Common signs and
symptoms can include:

 Fever

 Cough

 Tiredness
Early symptoms of COVID-19 may include a loss of taste or smell.

Other symptoms can include:

 Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

 Muscle aches

 Chills

 Sore throat

 Runny nose

 Headache

 Chest pain
This list is not all inclusive. Other less common symptoms have been reported, such as rash, nausea, vomiting
and diarrhea. Children have similar symptoms to adults and generally have mild illness.

The severity of COVID-19 symptoms can range from very mild to severe. Some people may have only a few
symptoms, and some people may have no symptoms at all. Some people may experience worsened
symptoms, such as worsened shortness of breath and pneumonia, about a week after symptoms start.

People who are older have a higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, and the risk increases with age.
People who have existing chronic medical conditions also may have a higher risk of serious illness. Serious
medical conditions that increase the risk of serious illness from COVID-19 include:

 Serious heart diseases, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathy

 Cancer

 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

  Type 2 diabetes

 Severe obesity

 Chronic kidney disease

 Sickle cell disease

 Weakened immune system from solid organ transplants

Other conditions may increase the risk of serious illness, such as:

 Asthma

 Liver disease

 Chronic lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis

 Brain and nervous system conditions

 Weakened immune system from bone marrow transplant, HIV or some medications

 Type 1 diabetes

 High blood pressure

International Response on covid-19 pendamic

Travel restrictions

Due to the covid-19 pandemic, many countries and regions imposed quarantines, entry bans, or other restrictions, either
for citizens, recent travellers to affected areas, or for all travelers Together with a decreased willingness to travel, this
had a negative economic and social impact on the travel sector. Concerns have been raised over the effectiveness of
travel restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19. A study in Science found that travel restrictions had only modestly
affected the initial spread of COVID-19, unless combined with infection prevention and control measures to considerably
reduce transmissions.Researchers concluded that "travel restrictions are most useful in the early and late phase of an
epidemic" and "restrictions of travel from Wuhan unfortunately came too late".

Evacuation of foreign citizens

Ukraine evacuates Ukrainian and foreign citizens from Wuhan, China.
Owing to the effective quarantine of public transport in Wuhan and Hubei, several countries evacuated their citizens and
diplomatic staff from the area, primarily through chartered flights of the home nation, with Chinese authorities
providing clearance. Canada, the United States, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, France, Argentina, Germany, and
Thailand were among the first to plan the evacuation of their citizens.Brazil and New Zealand also evacuated their own
nationals and some other people.On 14 March, South Africa repatriated 112 South Africans who
tested negative for the virus from Wuhan, while four who showed symptoms were left behind to mitigate risk.Pakistan
said it would not evacuate citizens from China.

On 15 February, the U.S. announced it would evacuate Americans aboard the cruise ship Diamond Princes and on 21
February, Canada evacuated 129 Canadian passengers from the shipIn early March, the Indian government began
evacuating its citizens from Iran.On 20 March, the United States began to partially withdraw its troops from Iraq due to
the pandemic.

International aid
World Health Organization's response to the COVID-19 pandemic
On 11 February, the WHO established COVID-19 as the name of the disease, and UN Secretary-General António
Guterres agreed to provide the "power of the entire UN system in the response". A UN Crisis Management Team was
activated, allowing coordination of the entire United Nations, which the WHO said will allow them to "focus on the
health response while the other agencies can bring their expertise to bear on the wider social, economic and
developmental implications of the outbreak".On 25 February, the WHO declared "the world should do more to prepare
for a possible coronavirus pandemic," stating that while it was too early to call it a pandemic, countries should be "in a
phase of preparedness".On 28 February, WHO officials said the coronavirus threat assessment at the global level would
be raised from "high" to "very high", its highest level of alert and risk assessment.On 11 March, the WHO declared the
coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.The Director-General said the WHO was "deeply concerned both by the alarming
levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction".Critics have said the WHO handled the pandemic
inadequately and that the PHEIC and pandemic classification came too late.The third meeting of the WHO Emergency
Committee on 30 April renewed the declaration of PHEIC for the second time.
The WHO said on 5 January that cases of pneumonia of unknown cause had been reported, and issued
technical briefings on 10 and 11 January warning of risks of human-to-human transmission and urging precautions due
to the similarity to earlier SARS and MERS outbreaks.though in public announcements it said there was "no clear
evidence of human-to-human transmission" as late as 14 January.On 20 January, the WHO said it was "now very clear"
human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus had occurred, given that healthcare workers had been infected.On 27
January, the WHO assessed the risk of the outbreak to be "high at the global level".

On 30 January, the WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), warning
that "all countries should be prepared for containment, including active surveillance, early detection, isolation and case
management, contact tracing and prevention of onward spread" of the virus,following an increase in cases outside
China. This was the sixth-ever PHEIC since the measure was first invoked during the 2009 swine flu pandemic. WHO
Director-General Tedros Adhanom said the PHEIC was due to "the risk of global spread, especially to low- and middle-
income countries without robust health systems" but that the WHO did not "recommend limiting trade and movement".
RESPONSES IN NATIONAL LEVEL
On anuary 17,2020, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare acknowledged the emergence of a new
coronavirus (COVID-19) that was spreading across China. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organisation
declared the COVID-19 disease to be a global pandemic. As of April 7, 2020, there are 4,421 confirmed cases
of COVID-19 in India. Of these, 326 patients have been cured/discharged and 114 have died.1   
As the spread increased and more information about the virus was uncovered, the central government
announced several policy decisions to contain it.  Further, measures were also announced to support citizens and
businesses who were affected by such containment measures.  In this topic, some of the key measures taken by
the central govt. in this regard as of august 2020—
Janata Curfew

The Janata Curfew (transl. People's curfew) was a 14-hour curfew on 22 March (from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.).Every person
was required to obey the curfew, with exceptions for people of "essential services" such as police, medical services,
media, home delivery professionals and firefighters. At 5 p.m. that day, all citizens were asked to stand in their
doorways, balconies or windows, and clap their hands or ring their bells in appreciation for the professionals
delivering these essential services.People belonging to National Cadet Corps and National Service Scheme were to
enforce the curfew in the country.

Nation wide lockdown

Phase 1 (25 March – 14 April)

On 25 March, the first day of the lockdown, nearly all services and factories were suspended.People were hurrying
to stock essentials in some parts.Arrests across the states were made for violating norms of lockdown such as
venturing out for no emergency, opening businesses and home quarantine violations.The government held
meetings with e-commerce websites and vendors to ensure a seamless supply of essential goods across the nation
during the lockdown period. Several states announced relief funds for the poor and affected people while the central
government was finalising a stimulus package.
On 26 March, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a ₹170,000 crore (US$24 billion) stimulus package
to help those affected by the lockdown.The package was aimed to provide food security measures for poor
households through direct cash transfers, free cereal and cooking gas for three months. It also provided insurance
coverage for medical personnel.
On 27 March, the Reserve Bank of India announced a slew of measures to help mitigate the economic impacts of
the lockdown.
Prior to the announcement of the nationwide lockdown, on 22 March, the government had announced that
the Indian Railways would suspend passenger operations through 31 March.The national rail network has
maintained its freight operations during the lockdown, to transport essential goods.On 29 March, the Indian
Railways announced that it would start services for special parcel trains to transport essential goods, in addition to
the regular freight service. The national rail operator also announced plans to convert coaches into isolation wards
for patients of COVID-19.
As the end of the initial lockdown period came near, many state governments expressed their decision to extend it
till the end of April.
Towards the end of the initial period, the rate of growth of COVID infections in India had significantly slowed, from a
rate of doubling every three days prior to the lockdown to one of doubling every eight days on 18 April. [5]
Phase 2 (15 April – 3 May)
On 14 April, PM Modi extended the nationwide lockdown till 3 May, with a conditional relaxation promised after 20
April for the regions where the spread had been contained by then. He said that every town, every police station
area and every state would be carefully evaluated to see if it had contained the spread. The areas that were able to
do so would be released from the lockdown on 20 April. If any new cases emerged in those areas, lockdown could
be reimposed.
On 16 April, lockdown areas were classified as "red zone", indicating the presence of infection hotspots, "orange
zone" indicating some infection, and "green zone" with no infections.
The government also announced certain relaxations from 20 April, allowing agricultural businesses, including dairy,
aquaculture and plantations, as well as shops selling farming supplies, to open. Public works programmes were also
allowed to reopen with instructions to maintain social distancing. Cargo transportation vehicles, including trucks,
trains and planes, would run. Banks and government centres distributing benefits would open as well.
On 25 April, small retail shops were allowed to open with half the staff. Again social distancing norms were to be
followed.
On 29 April, The Ministry of Home Affairs issued guidelines for the states to allow inter-state movement of the
stranded persons. States have been asked to designate nodal authorities and form protocols to receive and send
such persons. States have also been asked to screen the people, quarantine them and to do periodic health
checkups.
Phase 3 (4–17 May)
On 1 May, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Government of India (GoI) further extended the lockdown
period to two weeks beyond 4 May, with some relaxations.The country has been split into 3 zones: red zones (130
districts), orange zones (284 districts) and green zones (319 districts).Red zones are those with high coronavirus
cases and a high doubling rate, orange zones are those with comparatively fewer cases than red zone and green
zones are those without any cases in the past 21 days. Normal movement is permitted in green zones with buses
limited to 50 percent capacity. Orange zones would allow only private and hired vehicles but no public
transportation. The red zones would remain under lockdown. The zone classification would be revised once a week.
Phase 4 (18–31 May)
On 17 May, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) extended
the lockdown for a period for two weeks beyond 18 May, with additional relaxations. Unlike the previous extensions,
states were given a larger say in the demarcation of Green, Orange and Red zones and the implementation
roadmap. Red zones were further divided into to containment and buffer zones. The local bodies were given the
authority to demarcate containment and buffer zones.

Unlock
Unlock 1.0 (1–30 June)
The MHA issued fresh guidelines for the month of June, stating that the phases of reopening would "have an
economic focus". Lockdown restrictions were only be imposed in containment zones, while activities were permitted
in other zones in a phased manner. This first phase of reopening was termed as "Unlock 1.0” and permitted
shopping malls, religious places, hotels and restaurants to reopen from 8 June. Large gatherings were still
banned, but there were no restrictions on inter-state travel. Night curfews were in effect from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. in all
areas and state governments were allowed to impose suitable restrictions on all activities.
Unlock 2.0 (1–31 July)
Phase II of Unlock began on 1 July under the guidelines and instructions of the MHA and the NDMA. Lockdown
measures were only imposed in containment zones. In all other areas, most activities were permitted. Night curfews
were in effect from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. in all areas. State governments were allowed to put suitable restrictions on all
activities, but state borders remained open to all. Inter- and intra-state travel was permitted. Limited international
travel was permitted as part of the Vande Bharat Mission. Shops were permitted to allow more than five persons at
a time. Educational institutions, metros, recreational activities remained closed till 31 July. Only essential activities
were permitted in containment zones, while maintaining strict parameter control and "intensive contact tracing,
house-to-house surveillance, and other clinical interventions". Further guidelines regarding usage of Aarogya
Setu and masks were reiterated.

Unlock 3.0 (1–31 August)[edit]

Unlock 3.0 for August 2020 removed night curfews and permitted gymnasiums and yoga centres to reopen from 5
August. Educational institutions will remain closed till 31 August. All inter-and intra-state travel and transportation is
permitted. Independence Day celebrations are permitted with social distancing.Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu
imposed a lockdown for the whole month, while West Bengal imposed lockdowns twice a week.

Financial aid

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana to provide relief against COVID-19

On March 26, the Finance Minister announced a relief package of 1.7 lakh crore rupees under the Pradhan
Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana for the poor. Key features of the package are-
 Insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh will be provided to health workers (such as doctors, nurses, paramedics
and ASHA workers) who are treating patients of COVID-19.
 Five kilograms of wheat or rice and one kilogram of preferred pulses will be provided for free every
month to poor families for the next three months.  
 Women account holders under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana will get Rs 500 per month between
April and June, and poor families will be given three free gas cylinders over the next three months.
  
Extension and relaxation in payment of taxes
The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 was promulgated on March
31, 2020. The Ordinance provides certain relaxations, such as extension of time limits and waivers of penalties,
in relation to specified laws.  These include the Income Tax Act, 1961 (IT Act), some Finance Acts, and the
Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988.  
Measures by RBI to address the financial stress caused by COVID-19
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also announced several measures to address the stress in the economy caused
by COVID-19.  Key measures are detailed below:
 Cutting Policy Rates:  The repo rate (the rate at which RBI lends money to banks) was reduced from
5.15% to 4.4%.   The reverse repo rate (the rate at which RBI borrows money from banks) was reduced
from 4.9% to 4.0%.  
 Liquidity management: Measures are being taken to expand liquidity in the market to ensure that
financial markets and institutions can function normally.  These measures include the reduction of the
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for all banks from 4% to 3% till March 26, 2021.  CRR is the amount of
liquid cash that banks have to maintain with the RBI, as a percentage of their total deposits.  These steps
are expected to inject total liquidity of Rs 3.74 lakh crore. 
 Relief to borrowers in repayment of loans:  All banks and financial institutions (including NBFCs)
are permitted to grant a moratorium of three months on payment of all term loan instalments (including
agricultural, retail and crop loans) and interest on working capital loans (such as overdraft facilities),
which are due between March 1, 2020 and May 31, 2020.
 
Short term credit to states
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted an Advisory Committee to review the Ways and Means
Advances (WMA) limits for states and UTs. WMA limits refer to temporary loans given by the RBI to state
governments. Until the Committee submits its final recommendations, the WMA limit has been increased by
30% from the existing limit, for all states and UTs. The revised limits will be in force between April 1 and
September 30, 2020.
PM CARES Fund

 
The central government has set up a national fund to deal with emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic.  The
public charitable trust known as the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations
Fund (PM CARES Fund) will provide relief to those affected by COVID-19.  The trust is chaired by the Prime
Minister and includes members such as the Defence Minister, Home Minister, and Finance Minister.
Donations made by a person to the PM CARES Fund are 100% tax deductible.  Non-residents can also
contribute to the Fund through foreign inward remittances.

Health measures
COVID-19 testing 
Currently, government facilities are offering free of cost diagnosis to all individuals with COVID-19 symptoms.
Further, the government has approved certain private laboratories to test individuals for COVID-19.  The cost of
screening in private labs may not exceed Rs 4,500.  As of April 7, there are 136 government testing centres for
analysing samples of COVID-19 and 3 additional collection centres. Further, there were 59 private labs offering
testing in 12 states.  These states are Delhi, Maharashtra, Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil
Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Gujarat.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also laid down guidelines for those who may be tested at these
laboratories.   These include: (i) symptomatic contacts of those who have tested positive for COVID-19, and (ii)
symptomatic persons with a travel history to COVID-19 affected countries, (iii) symptomatic healthcare
workers, and (iv) persons with severe respiratory diseases.
Containment plan for large outbreaks
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has created a plan to contain the spread of the COVID-19 disease.
Some of the measures suggested in the plan include.
 Geographic quarantine:   This strategy requires the restriction of movement of people to and from a
defined geographic area where there is a large outbreak.  
 Cluster Containment:  This strategy will contain the disease within a defined geographic area by early
detection of cases.  Cluster containment will include geographic quarantine, social distancing, testing all
suspected cases, and awareness amongst the public. 

Restrictions on export of medicines and medical equipment

The central government placed restrictions on the export of certain medical equipment and medication so as to
ensure its availability in India.  For example, the export of ventilators, surgical masks, diagnostic kits, and
medications such as paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine is restricted.