COVID-19 Epidemiology in India: A Review, Lessons Learned, and Future Policy Development

Abstract

SARS-CoV2, tentatively named Covid-19 by World Health Organization (WHO), has spread throughout the world as a highly contagious disease. The virus had infected more than 200 countries with 769,341,373 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 6,954,279 deaths as of August, 06 2023. To control the disease, WHO-recommended prevention and control measures such as social distancing, limiting public gatherings, and frequent hand washing were initially implemented. Vaccines were developed, and the disease was effectively controlled to a greater extent. While the pandemic claimed many lives and caused an economic meltdown, it also provided an opportunity to learn and prepare for the future. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of strengthening the public health care system. The need for much greater global cooperation has significantly increased, and world health organisations such as WHO, UNICEF, and the World Bank have important roles to play. The states should take steps to build long-term capacity to respond to rapidly spreading epidemics, as well as recognise and adequately fund overlooked public health services. There is a need for sophisticated pandemic preparedness programmes to be developed, and this should be done by every country under the WHO umbrella. This will not only help us deal with any future pandemic, but it will also prevent the financial and human devastation.