Chennai: The lockdown cannot go on forever. The government is looking at ways to open the economy and bring back normalcy.
Things are moving towards economy-centric governance. The focus is shifting from lives to livelihood.
Currently, only expense-oriented sectors, like Health, are running, fetching the government no income. While revenue oriented sectors like TASMAC, temples, electricity board, property registration and transport have been shut.
Also, closure of industries has led to loss of livelihood. Hence, the government is looking at the exit of lockdown in a phased manner.
But, this will come with a cost. So how will life post relaxation of lockdown be like?
Dr Prashanth of Velacheri says the public must bounce back to normal life only with proper guidelines issued by the government.
‘Even during lockdown it was difficult to control what people do and how they behave in shops. There were large crowds at liquor outlets. He says, adequate arrangements should be made at hospitals where more people are expected to come. There should be Personal Protective Equipment and other resources for nurses and doctors.’
Dr Prashanth also said there definitely would be an increase in the spread.
‘People should take steps to boost immunity with proper care, sleep, nutritious food and practice social distancing, wear surgical masks not a cloth mask, practice washing hands and avoid crowded areas for a long time’, he said.
A nurse working with a private hospital said, ‘It will be difficult for medical teams to work. The normal cases coming to hospitals will be affected. They might contract the virus.
Currently, the staff is managing fewer patients with available PPE kits. Once the other departments in hospitals are opened it will be tough to manage. Everyone will be vulnerable.’
A study suggests that coronavirus can survive on surfaces of steel rods, glass, plastic for many days.
Even as the Government says only 25 persons will be allowed to ride on an MTC bus at a time, many have expressed doubts on how it would work.
Some of the questions are: Will this means there will be huge crowds waiting at bus stops? How often will the buses be cleaned in a day?
Policemen on the frontline are also staring into the unpredictable situation. Vijaykumar, Inspector of police, Teynampet said, ‘Now 100 police personnel have the virus. The numbers may go up. After the lockdown is removed, a huge influx of people at stations can be expected. When we catch an accused and lock him up in the station, how will we know if he has the virus or not?’ Any answers?