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The | New Delhi |
Updated: April 21, 2020 7:53:10 pm
Women sit on the ground keeping social distance while waiting to receive aid supplies provided by the local police authority in Dhaka. (Reuters)
Despite representing a fifth of the world population (21%), the eight nations of SAARC – India, Pakistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan: they represent only 1.28 percent of the world total of 24.80,503 cases of coronavirus. In terms of fatalities, the SAARC total is almost half a percentage point (0.54 percent) or 937 of the total of 1,70,397 people who have died from the infection worldwide, according to data from worldometers.
SAARC countries have had much lower infection rates in the region. compared to the most affected countries, including the United States, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Iran and China. Follow the updates LIVE
However, the number of coronavirus cases in the SAARC region is growing by an average of 8.61 percent compared to the global average rate of 3.66 percent. Furthermore, cases double in the SAARC region in less than half the number of days (8.36 days) than the world average of 19.65 days.
Quite simply, the doubling rate implies how many days it takes for the number of coronavirus cases to double, and it is a prudent method of evaluating the spread of the pandemic. The shorter the time period, the steeper the curve and the faster the growth.
Because daily growth rates can have high variability, we have used a moving average calculated for five-day periods between April 15-20, to calculate the cumulative daily growth rate (CDGR) for each country, and then use the ” 72 “rule to find the doubling rate (doubling time = 72 / daily growth rate).
India has the highest number of cases in the region with 18,539 with Pakistan next with 8,892, while Bhutan has the lowest number with only six of the cases in the subcontinent. In fact, India accounts for more than 58 percent of total cases among SAARC countries.
An analysis of the daily rate of daily growth at the country level shows great variability: cases in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan are increasing at a slower rate than the SAARC average of 8.61 percent, while in In the Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal, infections are increasing by 26 percent, 19 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
On the Indo-Bangladesh Petrapole border in North 24 Parganas
In terms of deaths, India tops the list with 592 deaths, followed by Pakistan with 192 deaths and Bangladesh (110 deaths). Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan have so far reported zero deaths. Together, India and Pakistan account for 84 percent of total deaths in the region.
The low figures in the subcontinent despite its large population can be attributed to the impact of the strict blockade and the social distancing measures that have been adopted, according to a World Bank report.
To curb the spread of the disease, Bangladesh and Pakistan suspended congregational prayers in mosques across the country.
“All governments in South Asia have responded quickly to the crisis, but their task is daunting. Governments imposed social distancing measures, introduced aid packages to guarantee access to food, and provided delays in tax payments, rents, public services and debt service, “said a study of the ‘South Asia Economic Approach ‘, published by the World Bank, week.
Furthermore, the recovery rate in SAARC regions is below the world average of 26.35 percent. The recovery rate is highest in Sri Lanka (32.89 percent) followed by Pakistan (23.23 percent) and the Maldives (23.19 percent). In India, about 17.65 percent of patients recover daily, the data reveals.
in a video conference on the formation of a joint strategy To fight Covid-19 in the SAARC region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 15 proposed an emergency fund with an initial offer of $ 10 million from India. Subsequently, Nepal and Afghanistan pledged $ 1 million each, the Maldives pledged $ 200,000, Bhutan $ 100,000, Bangladesh $ 1.5 million, Pakistan $ 3 million, and Sri Lanka pledged to contribute $ 5 million to the fund.
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