Wide interaction on the next steps welcome

Italy and Spain, two of the worst-affected countries in Europe, have been in lockdown for almost a month now.

Published: 08th April 2020 04:00 AM | Last Updated: 08th April 2020 07:37 AM | A+A A-

A man walks with a differently able woman on tricycle on the 14th day of lockdown as the sky turns overcast giving relief from scorching heat at Kamarajar Promenade in Chennai on Tuesday. (Photo | Debadatta Mallick/EPS)

With just a week left before the end of the 21-day nationwide lockdown, there are already voices from some states that it should be extended. Telangana has cited a report by the Boston Consulting Group to publicly state that it should be extended and many other states seem to be in favour of it. If one goes by the experience of other countries, this opinion may be justified.

Italy and Spain, two of the worst-affected countries in Europe, have been in lockdown for almost a month now. While a countrywide shutdown was ordered in Italy on March 10, Spain was locked down on March 14. It was only towards the end of the third week that Italy could arrest the rising number of confirmed new cases. Fresh cases dropped from more than 5,000 daily to around 4,000 after 21 days of lockdown.

The same was the case with the number of deaths too. It was only on the 25th day that the death rate began to decline. Spain also seems to be following the same trajectory. It took the country at least 21 days to arrest the death rate, from more than 800 a day to less than 700. Whether India will also be able to check the number of fresh cases and deaths remains to be seen, but as the country enters the last of the three-week lockdown, the numbers are only numbing. In the past two days, new cases have jumped to over 600 a day and over 30 have died daily. While the government still maintains that community transmission hasn’t yet started, it has for the first time admitted that localised community transmission in some hotspots has been noticed.

Given the additional burden of India’s population size, the government needs to carefully chalk out its next step. The consultations Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had with chief ministers, former presidents and prime ministers, and leaders of political parties are steps in the right direction. The wider the consultative process the better. It will help prevent a situation like the massive suffering migrant workers had to undergo with the sudden announcement of the lockdown.