Influencing Factors of COVID-19 Spreading: A Case for Government and Divine Intervention,

Abstract

The pandemic, COVID-19, is a special one. It has created a disruption, like the ones seen in case of major wars, turning the growth trajectories of many economies’ upside downs. What would be an ideal policy response? As countries across the world differ structurally, that is, some countries are more industrially advanced than the others; some are more populous, with a large dependence on agriculture and urban-informal sector; the nature of policy response to fight against COVID-19 varies across countries. Policy responses enacted through a combination of fiscal and monetary policies are meant to minimize loss of life and livelihoods. Some of the countries such as South Korea and New Zealand did well in containing the crisis. On the contrary India was not so successful. I compare and contrast the policy response of India, benchmarking it against South Korea and New Zealand. Although COVID-19 is spreading fast in India, the mortality rate is low. I attribute these to the exogenous factors. These factors such as demographic profile, tropical weather, dietary habits, large vaccination program, and ability to supply affordable drugs have been responsible for the low number of COVID-19 deaths in India