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infected. Through appropriate and effective early actions, it success-
fully slowed infections in the state, largely by promoting precaution-
ary measures, and providing better protection for health staff well
before the hugely disruptive and draconian lockdown imposed in
India from late March.
The Left Front-led Kerala state government invited religious
leaders, local bodies, and civil society organizations to participate
in policy design and implementation, considering its specific socio-
economic conditions. It has communicated effectively in different lan-
guages to educate all, and acted to prevent stigmatization of those
infected, opposing the term “social distancing,” with its caste conno-
tations, insisting on “physical distancing and social solidarity.”
With Kerala’s long-standing achievements in education, highly
educated Keralans tend to migrate to work out of state, if not abroad,
seeking more lucrative employment. With the nationwide lockdown,
non-residents, about 5% of Kerala’s population, have returned, caus-
ing many new infections. The state has handled the migration issue
well, especially compared to other state governments and the central
government.
To make things worse, Kerala has been discriminated against
by the central government’s disaster relief fund on specious grounds.
The largely agricultural state has modest fiscal resources of its own,
as state governments in India have limited fiscal rights and resources.
Hence, Kerala’s response, by a government with very limited fiscal
resources, is especially instructive to others considering early precau-
tionary action.
Vietnam24
Vietnam, a poor, populous country with 97 million people, bordering
China, has successfully kept down infections, with no deaths (as of
May 7), by acting early to trace and test contacts, and to quarantine
and treat the infected. Key features of Vietnam’s response are similar
to those of other much-lauded East Asian responses, with infection
rates significantly lower than even Taiwan’s. Vietnam has been much
lauded as a low-cost COVID-19 success story to be emulated by poor
countries with limited resources.
24. Anis Chowdhury & Jomo Kwame Sundaram, “Vietnam Winning New War
Against Invisible Enemy”, Inter Press Service (14 April 2020), online: <https://
www.ipsnews.net/2020/04/vietnam-winning-new-war-invisible-enemy/>.
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Title
- VULNERABLE
- Subtitle
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Authors
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Publisher
- Ottawa Press
- Date
- 2020
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Size
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Pages
- 648
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- International