Covid-19 in South Asia: Space Matters

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Abstract

Covid-19 undoubtedly poses challenges to our world. The first, being the protection of human lives, a pursuit which will influence and take a toll on economic recovery and trust. Through the implementation of a policy of ‘social distancing’, governments have tried to delay the spread of infection to help healthcare systems to have the capacity to cope. The implementation of this policy is a fine-tuning exercise, from which deriving effects could prove drastic or beneficial – as the comparison of regions and countries has shown. Success depending not only on local management of the containment exercise and health care quality, but also on the sharing of knowledge and resources. The argument in this Working Paper is that is to crucial to promote and ensure the existence and capacity of mobile healthcare. This, in order to be able to cope with the variations of the peaks of infection across space. The analysis here proposes a logistic function to examine the evolution of the Covid-19 infection in the South Asian countries and within the major regions of India. The main argument here, being that since infection peaks are estimated to occur from July 2020 to the first trimester of 2021, there is a justified need for an international strategy for the building of a capable mobile healthcare structure in South Asia, and of a mobile healthcare system within India.