How Impactful Could The Idea Of India Lockdown Eventually Turn Out To Be?

Not a bird in the skies over your head. Not a walking limb beside you on the ground. No sign of anyone’s beating heart around you. The deafening noise of traffic and the soaring records of pollution? Not a chance. Not in this lifetime, one reckons. Just that one doesn’t know how big is this lifetime going to be. It doesn’t take one to be an Einstein to note that this is India under lockdown. The country that usually bustles with hundreds of thousands of swarms of people, regardless of where one looks is currently sporting a deserted look.

Though, what one doesn’t know, after all, is that just how long is this thing going to last? Surely, to play on the safer side, experts have suggested that beating Corona sounds easier by simply avoiding exposure to it (in any way), and hence the total adherence to the concept of India under lockdown.

But can India under lockdown prove itself to be a really viable idea? Talks have begun in informed circles about the scheme of affairs that have engulfed the country, bringing to a complete standstill.

One wonders, when we entered this new year did anyone even care to think, let alone predict that such a massive occurrence would strike us all? Then, even thinking that “we aren’t alone in this; it’s got pretty much the world at the beating end of its stick” doesn’t sound that encouraging either. What do you think?

One wonders, whether introspecting about what lies ahead could actually be a fine idea? So in that regard, it suffices to state that is India under lockdown the right way to go about things? How sustainable and fruitful will this idea eventually pan out to be?

There are already divergent views coming in on the subject that seem to reflect a big question; India under lockdown is surely an attempt to soften things out there, but is it going to be enough?

Although that said, it is worthwhile to reflect on what Dr. T. Jacob John, formerly the head of the Indian Council of Medical Research Centre’s Advanced Research in Virology had to say:

“While the growth in cases in India has, so far, been slow, the growth in infections, will seem more severe by April 15.”

So that brings us to face the vital reality; just what is the real impact of the massive Coronavirus outbreak so far in the second-most populous country on the planet? So far there have been no more than 7-10 cases of death in the country.

But while bringing the country to a state of standstill is a great decision- the big question that everyone is pondering over is whether we have bought enough time for the people of India?

That’s the abject reality all face. Surely while hoping that the deadly infectious outbreak doesn’t reach the crescendo is what everyone desires but the very fact that we still do not have the medical mass or muscle to fight a deadly outbreak that afflicts huge swathes of people is also the truth.

China, the origin of the threatening outbreak is one such country alongside the United States where there are massive healthcare infrastructural facilities to treat one and all. But does India have it too? It’s anyone’s guess. Merely taking a look at the hospital to patients – countrywide ratio- can suggest an answer.

Estimates seem to suggest a scarier picture, therefore, a whole murkier idea that’s lingering out there;

At least, 8 million adults (think of it: that’s more than Israel or Finland’s population) are at risk.

Moreover, Dr T Jacob John was of the following view that one cannot take lightly:

“We are still two steps behind the virus — ideally, this step should have been taken a week ago, that way we could’ve stopped the outbreak’s inward journey into heartland India.”

So the big question continues to linger on, regardless of whatever steps the country is taking: is India under lockdown really a scalable idea? For if it is, then where are the quantum of mobile health clinics supported by means to conduct mass Corona testing that can gather who’s sick and who isn’t?