The latest phase of lockdown, where more arenas are being opened to public, indirectly signals the need for one to start coexistence with coronavirus. Especially, when the areas of mass contact such as buses, trains, hotels and temples are back in operation, it is only natural to expect people to take care of their personal safety and hygiene and depend less on State guidance in future.
Though Tirupati witnessed a spike last week and the number of cases across Chittoor district saw a significant rise, the panic level has indeed come down. Officials, on their part, facilitated the smooth changeover by toning down the rules and regulations.
The size of the red zones and containment zones is now significantly reduced, providing lesser area for core focus and released more space for public movement. This turned out to be the first step in ingraining the message of ‘safe coexistence’ into the human psyche.
“We were scared when a positive case was reported behind the Thyagaraja Mandapam, located half a kilometre away from my house. All my family members stayed indoors for 10 days. Now, there is a case in Doddapuram street, just 100 metres away, but I am not worried,” says T. Ganesh, a resident of Kotakommala Layout.
Temple reopening
As talk of opening Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala gains strength, Tirupati is feared to be in for another round of cases due to the inflow of pilgrims from far-off places. The city, which depends heavily on the floating population for its economic survival, cannot wish away the development, but will have to stay safe in handling the crowd.