Chapter 17 - Pandemic management in mountainous regions: challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Globalization has facilitated fast spread of COVID-19 cutting across political boundaries and even the remote locations have not been spared. Spread of the contagion is studied in the Himalayan province of Uttarakhand in India that is generally visited by pilgrims and tourists in large numbers from across the country and abroad. Despite restrictions on travel, the virus has spread even to the remote locations of the province. The study analyzes the efforts put in by the provincial government and the pace of spread as a function of geographical remoteness, together with the constraints faced by the administration and disaster managers in restricting the spread. The study highlights the important lessons which would help the management of future pandemics. The chapter at the same time highlights limited involvement of medical community in disaster management which is generally limited to post-disaster casualty management, triage, first aid, medical care, and psychosocial support.