Agencies

Public participation is very important to control Sars-Cov2 virus according to a study of 100 days of Covid-19 in India. The study shows that breach of the lockdown led to a spurt of cases in India.

The study, published in the �Indian Journal of Medical Research�, has found that from March 25 to April 7, there were 331 cases, from April 8 to April 30 there were 1,211 cases and from May 1 to May 10 this had increased to 2,989 cases.

In the initial days of the lockdown of 21 days, there was a visible impact and the virus could be contained, the study says. Before the lockdown, the doubling time was 3.4 and it improved to 7.5 by April 19. It further improved to 12.9 by May 13. Despite these efforts and the extended lockdown, the number of cases has risen in India, as the last 10 days of the 100-day period shows a major breach with heavy movement of people from one part of the country to another.

This large scale human movement allowed for proliferation of the virus. Scientists in their evaluation term SARS Cov 2 as a �rudimentary virus whose genetic structure is proving to be more experienced and intelligent than entire humanity. Its ability to strike humans in unknown ways has made it a potential virus with an ability to cause greater disruption and destruction.�

This observation is because the virus has acted differently in different locations in the world and also in India. The effect of the pandemic has not been uniform in India because testing, which is a main way of identifying the virus, is poor due to lack of kits and laboratories. For this reason, too, reports from rural areas are very limited and exact number of cases is not clear.