Coronavirus outbreak: Why lifting lockdown in India is a bad idea

New Delhi, Apr 11: As the deadly virus began to spread across the world, India witnessed its first case on January 30, 2020. With this, it can be seen that the coronavirus is driven by human-to-human transmission, forcing the government authorities to call for social distancing as an effective way to curb the spread of COVID-19.

According to reports, before China imposed a complete lockdown in January, the R0 of the virus had increased to 2.38, indicating a high capacity for sustained transmission. However, China was quick to announce a complete lockdown on January 23.

After China, India called for a nationwide lockdown on March 24. This move by the government came after Janta Curfew was called as an experiment on March 22.

A report that analysed the data on coronavirus spread till April 8, claimed that the rate of positive COVID-19 cases in India with densely-populated regions is 4.5-5.0 per cent, as compared to much higher figures in the European nations and the United States.

It can be seen that India is yet to begin its testing on clusters with high rates of COVID-19. However, one positive situation that India is witnessing is that the nation is registering lack of severe and critical cases.

With this, it can be seen that India has done exceptionally well so far in curbing the deadly virus. But, it also has several other challenges to sustain the benefits of the lockdown and lifting the lockdown for the next few weeks, remain crucial.