COVID 19 OUTBREAK

The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic is an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease

2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus
2 (SARS-CoV-2). The outbreak was identified in Wuhan, China, in December
2019, declared to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30
January 2020, and recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on
11 March 2020.

The coronavirus, which surfaced in a Chinese seafood and poultry market late last
year, has spread to at least 177 countries, killing more than 75,000 and sickening
more than one million in a matter of weeks. The World Health Organization has
declared the situation a pandemic.

On Dec. 31, the government in Wuhan, China, confirmed that health authorities

were treating dozens of cases. Days later, researchers in China identified a new
virus that had infected dozens of people in Asia. At the time, there was no evidence
that the virus was readily spread by humans. Health officials in China said they
were monitoring it to prevent the outbreak from developing into something more
severe.

On Jan. 11, Chinese state media reported the first known death from an illness
caused by the virus, which had infected dozens of people. The 61-year-old man
who died was a regular customer at the market in Wuhan.

The first confirmed cases outside mainland China occurred in Japan, South Korea
and Thailand, according to the World Health Organization’s first situation report.
The first confirmed case in the United States came the next day in Washington
State, where a man in his 30s developed symptoms after returning from a trip to
Wuhan.
 COVID 19 OUTBREAK IN INDIA

The first case of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic in India was reported on 30
January 2020, originating from China. As of 15 April 2020, the Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare have confirmed a total of 11,933 cases, 1,344 recoveries
(including 1 migration) and 392 deaths in the country. Experts suggest the number
of infections could be much higher as India's testing rates are among the lowest in
the world. The infection rate of COVID-19 in India is reported to be 1.7,
significantly lower than in the worst affected countries.

The outbreak has been declared an epidemic in more than a dozen states and union
territories, where provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 have been
invoked, and educational institutions and many commercial establishments have
been shut down. India has suspended all tourist visas, as a majority of the
confirmed cases were linked to other countries.

On 22 March 2020, India observed a 14-hour voluntary public curfew at the

instance of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The government followed it up
with lockdowns in 75 districts where COVID cases had occurred as well as all
major cities. Further, on 24 March, the prime minister ordered a nationwide
lockdown for 21 days, affecting the entire 1.3 billion population of India. On 14
April, the prime minister extended the ongoing nationwide lockdown till 3 May.

The outbreak has been declared an epidemic in more than a dozen states and union
territories, where provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 have been
invoked, and educational institutions and many commercial establishments have
been shut down. India has suspended all tourist visas, as a majority of the
confirmed cases were linked to other countries.
 Travel and entry restrictions
On 3 March 2020, the Indian government stopped issuing of new visas. Previously
issued visas for the nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan were
suspended.
All visas were suspended 13 March 2020, except for diplomatic and other official
visas, as well as the visa-free travel for Overseas Citizens of India. Indians
returning from COVID-affected countries were asked to be quarantined for 14
days. These measures were expanded to Europe, Gulf countries and Asian
countries including Malaysia on 17–18 March.
The land border with Myanmar began to be restricted on 9 March with the
initiative of the state governments of Mizoram and Manipur. On 13 March, the
Government of India closed passenger traffic from all neighboring countries other
than Pakistan. The traffic from Pakistan itself was closed on 16 March. Travel and
registration for Sri Kartarpur Sahib was also suspended on this date.
Sikkim restricted entry of domestic tourists in the state from 17 March and asked
those who are already in the state to leave. Himachal Pradesh banned entry of
foreign and domestic tourists on 19 March until further notice. Other states
followed such as Uttarakhand, which has also banned tourists till further
orders. Punjab banned the use of public transport as of 21 March.
 Screening

On 4 March 2020, the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan,

announced compulsory screening of all international passengers arriving in India.
He also said that so far, 589,000 people have been screened at airports, over one
million screened at borders with Nepal and around 27,000 were currently under
community surveillance. The government shall also now start universal screening
for all passengers flying into India from abroad. Earlier, only passengers coming in
from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Nepal,
Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia were checked.
How far it is right for the Indians to play
blame games at this point of pandemic?

The outbreak of COVID-19 in India has introduced one more chance to dispatch a
new assault on the Muslim community. Physical, verbal and mental fighting is
being pursued against Muslims, driving further their ostracisation in Indian culture.

It all started when news spread that people who had attended a large gathering of
Tablighi Jamaat, a Muslim missionary movement, at its premises in New Delhi had
tested positive for the novel coronavirus. People travelled from outside India to
attend this event and it is suspected that they may have introduced the virus into
the congregation. The Tablighi Jamaat was blamed for organizing this event in the
middle of March, ignoring the threat of the spread of the virus. Very soon, reports
started pouring in from different parts of India suggesting that the largest number
of positive cases could be traced back to the event.

Sudden surge in Islamophobic hashtags and posts on different social media

platforms accusing Muslims of purposefully spreading the virus started to come up
all over social media. A new term, "corona jihad", has been coined to describe this
conspiracy. Videos showing Muslims spitting on vegetables and fruit, licking
plates and smearing surfaces with their saliva are being circulated widely.

This became a justification for the government to create a separate column of

Tablighi Jamaat-related cases in its daily briefings. It has created an impression
that the Muslim movement is the main culprit. Since it is difficult for many to
differentiate between Tablighis and other Muslims, all Muslims are now seen as
potential carriers of this virus and are therefore shunned and hated.

This is basically sampling bias: Since people from this one cluster have been
tested at very high rates, and overall testing is low, it is hardly surprising that a
large proportion of overall positives is attributed to this cluster, Datta said.
As some have pointed out, the Tablighi Jamaat event was only one of the many
congregations, religious and non-religious, which happened in mid-March. At
that time, the government of India tried to downplay the gravity of the
situation, allowing the parliament to function and letting nearly 1.5 million
people enter the country without proper screening between January and
March. The Tablighi Jamaat guests were a tiny fraction of this number.

The excitement and enthusiasm with which this anti-Muslim campaign has been
taken up is a deeply worrying phenomenon.

It adds to already existing conspiracy theories about Muslims waiting in the wings,
reproducing at a frantic pace to outnumber Hindus and "pollute" the Hindu land.
Since the community was already seen as plotting to inflict damage on "Mother
India", it was easy to "establish" that Muslims would seek to infect Hindus with
coronavirus to destroy them.
 New Coronavirus case in India

The spread of novel coronavirus in India has quickened in the past few days with
new cases of coronavirus and COVID-19 deaths being reported every day.