Facing the exceptional challenge of stopping Covid-19 from spreading further, the nation has shown tremendous solidarity and patience. When it started, the lockdown seemed an impossible notion, more so in this country. Now, even after an extension, people remain steadfast in their resolve to protect themselves and their fellow citizens from the virus. The way 1.30 billion Indians have joined hands against the pandemic is unprecedented in world history. Generations to come will wonder how it was made possible in a country like India.
The infection is, of course, spreading and the battle is far from won. Yet, we have reasons to feel confident, because the magnitude of the outbreak has been very limited in India, compared to the numbers in other parts of the world. This should be surprising, because India is not only a developing nation with limitations in public healthcare infrastructure and resources; it is also a vast country with high population density.
If the only way to stop the virus from claiming human lives was to keep a safe distance from fellow human beings, then the battle might have been as good as lost even before it began. How do you get the message across to a vast population, with different levels of literacy and access to the news media? What about cultural barriers? It would be physically impossible for any authority to enforce such a ban across the length and breadth of the nation if it failed to persuade people.
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