Covid-Appropriate Behavior: Use The Stick, Unsparingly
Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
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By Slogger
First publised on 2021-04-16 10:25:09
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Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
View all posts by this Author
The way people are behaving all over India now proves that Indians understand the language of the stick more than anything else. As soon as the administration relaxed the rules, or more precisely stopped monitoring violations, Covid-appropriate behavior went for a toss, despite Prime Minister Modi's repeated warning that there must be kadai even with the dawai. All over the country, many people started roaming about the streets without purpose, many of them without masks. Digital thermometers and sanitizers disappeared from building complexes, malls and other public places. Social, religious and political gatherings were held with abandon with no physical distancing. People were allowed entry without restrictions or without screening. This happened for 6 months from October 2020 to March 2021. It was almost as if Indians had decided that the coronavirus had left for good. Little did they know that the virus was lurking, waiting for an opportunity to strike back with a vengeance.
The result of our follies is that now, despite having vaccines in hand and despite having given the first dose to almost 8 percent of the population, we are witnessing a daily rise of between 9 to 11 percent in fresh cases and the virus continues to infect many more people than it did in the first wave. Our response in the first wave was timely, focused and extensive although it made us pay a huge economic price. That should have prepared us for the second wave. Unfortunately, it was not so. Our response the second time around, both of the Centre and of the states, is very slow and lacks focus. If only administrations all over the country had started being strict with people when cases first showed signs of surging at a fast pace, maybe we could have controlled the second wave. There was a need then (as it is more so now) to penalize people not wearing masks in public, to ensure that all public places admitted people after proper screening and provided sanitizers and ensured that people sanitized their hands before entering. There was a need also to ban public gatherings.
The laxity shown by administrations all over India fuelled the Covid fatigue in people and they failed to understand the risk they were inviting by not adhering to health protocols. Since there is a shortage of vaccines (although the government is addressing it), it is impossible for India to inoculate enough people to achieve herd immunity in the near future. Some estimates show that India will not be able to give both the doses to 60% of its population before March next year. But that would be too late and the virus would tighten its grip alarmingly and destructively. So what is the alternative? Along with vaccination, India must test aggressively and return to contact tracing and isolation on war footing. It must also ensure that Covid protocols are followed religiously all over the country. Lockdowns are economically devastating and have not proved to be entirely successful in breaking the chain. It is only through getting the people to behave responsibly that we can keep infections at manageable level until we achieve herd immunity. If the stick is needed, it should be used unsparingly. The time to do that is now.
pic courtesy: tribuneindia.com
