According to a study by the ICMR, (Indian Council of Medical Research), India may have had 6.4 million Covid-19 cases by May 2020, against the 4.5 million official cases as of now. The report further states that about 0.73 percent of the adults would have been exposed to the disease. The survey tested blood samples from 28,000 people, across 21 states. The report came to the alarming conclusion that for every confirmed case of COVID-19 in May, there were 82-130 infections that went undetected.

Covid-19 continues to march aggressively in India, especially in smaller towns and villages. At the rate of 80,000 to 90,000 new cases per day, India will push the USA to second position, within about 25 to 30 days and become the most Covid-19 infected country globally. This would be horrendous, for it is difficult to manage the disease in the villages. About 65.53 per cent of India’s total population of 1.35 billion, live in 649,481 villages, where medical facilities are scarce. Medical facilities have to be augmented in the villages, because the afflicted persons may not even know that they have Covid-19. They may mistake it for an ordinary cold.

Opinion leaders in the villages, like the school teachers, priests, doctors, should be deployed to spready awareness in the villages. These opinion leaders carry credibility with the villagers. Hence Governments should brief village teachers, priests and doctors to educate the villagers. The key message should be that the disease is curable and patients should report any symptoms at the earliest. The facilities in the primary health centres in the villages also need to be augmented, so as to conduct Covid-19 tests.

Rajendra Aneja — Mumbai, India