COVID-19: What’s In Store For Us In The Near Future And Latest Updates On The Lockdown
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The Coronavirus has taken the world by storm. The virus, which was discovered in Wuhan, China in late 2019, has now spread globally to over 200 countries and is killing by the thousands. The devastating virus has caused economic turmoil in many countries. As the world tries to slowly curb the spread of the virus, let’s take a look at what our country has done right and where we’re headed next. Read this article to catch up on the latest news related to lockdown and more
India’s History With The Coronavirus
The first or index case of Coronavirus was reported in the Thrissur district of Kerala. By third February, three more cases were reported within Kerala as students returned from Wuhan, China. There was no significant rise in cases in most of February but after the first death related to Coronavirus was reported in March, many governments decided that it would be safer if the country went under lockdown. While the country has been able to substantially slow down the spread of the virus, there have been many individuals who have not been following social isolation guidelines and defying the laws.
There have also been cases of medical staff getting affected by the virus and this has caused a hospital in the city of Mumbai to temporarily shut down and become a containment zone. Due to the lockdown, many economists have warned that post the virus, the damage to the economy might even be equivalent to that occurred during the great depression. While the virus has essentially severely disrupted the economy in Western countries like the UK and the USA, India seems to be doing a relatively good job at keeping confirmed numbers low. As of today, India has around 17,656 confirmed cases & 559 deaths as of today (1)(2)(3).
This has led to many people being uncertain about how long the lockdown is going to last in the country. However, it’s not all that bad. India is actually faring much better than other countries and thanks to the initial precautions taken and has managed to slow down the spread of the virus due to it. For example, in first world countries like Italy, the daily case volume was a staggering 1000 times more than in India and the cases have been consistently lower than other countries. India also took things a notch further after it announced a lockdown of it’s 1.3 billion population and has slowed down the spread significantly. The PM later announced an extension of the lockdown till the third of May and many are debating whether it will extend further. Certain states like Telangana which have been hit hard by the virus have announced an extension of their lockdown and have even banned the travel of delivery boys from apps like Swiggy and Zomato.
The government has classified certain areas into green, yellow and red zones. Green zones are areas with no cases, yellow zones are areas with a few cases and red zones are areas with numerous cases. The plan is to slowly ease the lockdown and restrictions in areas that are identified as green zones and yellow zones while still keeping tighter restrictions on areas that are identified as red zones. As of now, only 170 out of 718 areas have been identified as red zones. This has been done in order to help the agricultural industry function as a majority of green zones fall under that sector. This would also help migrants who have been displaced due to the virus.
Besides unlocking the agricultural sector the relaxation of the lockdown will also help other sectors like construction, manufacturing and self-employed services of plumbers, electricians and more function. However, easing these restrictions does not mean that people can just take to the streets and have large social gatherings. It will take some time for it to be safe to be in large public gatherings. India has also been successful in terms of saving lives. The country only has 0.4 Covid related deaths per million population and is far ahead of countries like Italy, Spain, USA and more in that regard.
It’s safe to say that our country is in a better state than many other countries but if we’re not careful, the tide could turn and we could be in a bad state. As responsible citizens of this country, it is important for us to stay vigilant and practice social isolation to curb spreading the disease to a more vulnerable population. Do you think the government should be more vigilant about law breakers? Let us know all your thoughts in the comment section below.
