COVID-19: Brief overview of risk governance approach from South Asia (Part One)

By Ms. Garima Khera and Ms. Disha Dwivedi from India; Ms. Ankita Shah & Ms. Sriya Gajurel from Nepal

Risk Governance during any disaster is considered to be the role of government agencies. The COVID-19 pandemic, is a major crisis with the number of cases rising alarmingly throughout the world. Up until March 31st 2020, Coronavirus has infected 802,556, with 39,012 deaths and 172,319 recovered based on COVID-19 monitor data.

As a response to the COVID-19 outbreak, most countries have taken several bold measures targeted towards health recovery and virus containment. These interventions vary from country to country. Some of the significant measures witnessed include: travel bans on immigration and emigration to prevent transboundary transmission, screening at ports of entry, closures of schools and other public places, nation-wide lockdown and restrictions on gatherings, amongst many others.

Case of India

The first advisory regarding Novel coronavirus was issued by the Government of India on 17th January’20, even when there was little evidence on human to human transfer and it was stated by WHO that the risk of global spread is low. A basic public health advisory was issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) to travellers visiting China. MoHFW also instructed thermal screening of travelers from China at Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata airport.

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Case of Nepal

The first case in Nepal was reported in January 2020. Following the suspicion of four cases in the first week of March’20, health workers were deployed for screening of international passengers at the airport.

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