The World Bank has issued a warning to countries in the Indian subcontinent. The International bank has warned that the migrant workers returning their homes may become the vectors carrying the coronavirus. So there is a chance to spread the disease in the unaffected states and villages in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
World make made this finding in its biannual regional report titled – South Asia Economic Update: Impact of COVID-19. World bank has said that as South Asia is one of the highest population density areas in the world, particularly urban areas, and that preventing domestic coronavirus transmission is an enormous challenge in the region.
“This makes contagion easier, especially among the most vulnerable people: slum dwellers and migrant workers. The flow of migrant workers could easily become vectors carrying the coronavirus back to other states and villages,” said the report. One minor advantage of South Asia is that the population over 65 years of age is lower than in the US and China, which could also limit the death rates, the report stated.
Household sizes are large in these countries. Also, the inadequate availability of medical equipment (such as sanitizers, masks, and ventilators), and a scarcity of mostly imported medical products led countries to stock domestic supplies.
Migrants face a stark choice between potentially starving in urban centers without work or long and potentially fatal journeys over hundreds of miles to their home districts, said the report.
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