Abstract

In general it has been observed that the Preparedness levels against the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic were relatively poor in South Asian countries. However, South Asian countries have lower mortality levels compared with other world countries. COVID-19 has revealed the vulnerabilities of the health system as a whole. In addition, the high burden of non-communicable diseases in South Asia multiplies the complexities in combating present and future health crises. The advantage offered by the younger population demographics in South Asia may not be sustained with the rising burden of noncommunicable diseases and lack of priority setting for improving health systems. Thus the COVID-19 pandemic has provided a window for introspection, scaling up preparedness for future pandemics, and improving the health of the population overall. The COVID pandemic arrived in South Asia at a much later stage compared with other countries. As such, the South Asian countries may have been able to learn from countries that had early peaks, and therefore achieved better preparation in terms of the public health response. For example, this could have resulted in a lower viral load due to more people wearing masks. South Asian countries lift lockdowns despite rising case numbers. Healthcare facilities and hospitals are stretched due to the increase in the number of cases. It has been reported that testing levels in Pakistan and Bangladesh have fallen dramatically. Social distance is much prevalent in sangha members of Buddhism and caste system in Hindu and its associated communities. That help much to such communities during COVID-19 pandemic. Further requires strong leadership and great political will to allocate substantial resources to prepare for future pandemics. The region needs to scale up the existing social ‘safety nets’ rapidly, such as cash transfers for food. South Asian countries have also resorted to the use of online portals, social media, working from home, online learning, direct benefit transfers, delivery of health services through ‘virtual doctors’, deploying facial recognition, and use of thermal scanners for identification of infected people. Delayed vaccine campaigns in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have brought more negative attention to their governments as other developed countries surge ahead. Since a huge extent of PM 2.5 can be credited to traffic vehicle’s gas and mechanical consuming of fills, this over all decrease of AQI information by implication shows an impact of lockdown in these nations. Urgent advanced training of both mental and physical health by way of yoga and meditation require

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