India has to Extend Lockdown

It is now almost certain that Indian government is going to extend the ongoing lockdown which is scheduled to end on 14th April. It is quite possible that it will be extended till 30th April 2020. Tomorrow it will be known to all. However many states have already acted on it on their own. However, there are some strong reservations about the extension of lockdown as this lockdown will result in doom for many sections of the society such as daily wages labourers, small and medium industries and farmers (fruits and nuts) and considering the weak implementation as well as the vision of the social security schemes, it would end up increasing distress and inequality. It is not that it is known but governments (central and state) are forced to take this route and we have to follow without doubting or questioning.

Considering the increasing numbers of patients however at somehow a stable rate every day, it looks evident. The mortality rate from Corona in India is 22.5% for all closed cases and 3.5% for all confirmed cases against the world average of 21% and 6.2% respectively. However only 4.2% cases are found to be confirmed for Coronavirus infection from all the tested cases and this is a good situation considering the small number of testing.

There is hardly any doubt that till now, lockdown has done whatever it could have and extension of lockdown can help to contain it sooner than later. However the results could have been even better if the Tablighi episode and migration of workers had not happened.

Rajeev Upadhyay