Saturday, 21 March 2020

A quick note on Covid, India, 21/03/2020

My latest Facebook post, a quick note for today:

India and Covid:
Greetings from the National Capital Region, India!
1. While the country is united in the fight against the covid disease, I think the public needs to be kept better, and more frequently informed of the actual steps that the government is taking, rather than be given general assurances.
2. Nothing too wrong with anything in Modi's 8 o' clock television address to the nation yesterday (India needs to remain united on this), BUT it seemed to create talking points such as asking others to clap from balconies on Sunday, while remaining opaque or unclear on strategies related to dealing with the pandemic, as well as strategies for the economic fallout of the pandemic.
3. I think we need to:
Assign specific nodal points to deal with specific aspects of the situation, and to zero in on a co-ordinating body/agency/structure, whether that is the PMO overseeing the NDMA, while engaging specific scientific experts, or any other ad hoc setup.
Immediately make a list of the kinds of agencies/people and aspects referred to above, and take it forward without delay.
Link it up with where the money will come from, for the above RESPONSE PROCESS, as far as the govt. goes, and include, in the process, ways in which, if any, to draw in other funding (pvt. sector and international), for a govt.-co-ordinated response process.
OPPOSITION VOICES MUST BE ON BOARD, AND OUR VIEWS IMPLEMENTED.

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