Response to COVID-19: Lahaul and Spiti, India

COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented global impact. Since its onset, the Government of India, State Governments and local authorities have been directing all their efforts towards handling the crisis. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) with the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) will be releasing a series of articles on case studies of response actions for COVID-19. These articles illustrate the approaches and strategies adopted across many Indian cities and states. The articles cover initiatives adopted towards controlling the spread of the virus, ranging from technological interventions, communication strategies, multi-sectoral governance mechanisms, and community participation.

Fifth in this series of articles on response actions on #COVID19 in India, here is a story on how Lahaul and Spiti, a Himalayan District, stopped the virus from scaling the mountains. This remote region has an average altitude of 4,270 meters and can be divided into two valleys: Lahaul valley that remains snowbound for six months during the winter and Spiti valley that remains accessible year-round through Kinnaur District. This district has been COVID-19-free since the virus entered the country at the beginning of this year—and continues to remain COVID-19-free until today. In fact, it has been declared a Green Zone by the Government of India. This is despite the fact that the district has received people coming into the state from other parts of the country as well as abroad; the influx still continues.