Explained: Would a return of lockdown help curb Covid-19 spike?

New Delhi, Mar 15: The spike in coronavirus cases towards the second half of February in Maharashtra and Punjab has triggered speculation that this may be the start of India's second Covid wave.

Scientists are trying to understand if the rise in cases is due to more-transmissible variants of the virus or due to a lapse in precautionary measures followed by people. Though there is no clarity if a new wave of the pandemic is currently underway, some things are certain.

At the initial stage, the spike in cases was gradual but it has gaining pace in the past two weeks. The development comes at a time when restrictions on several economic and social activities have eased in many parts of rural India, and even some cities.

Currently the rise in cases is happening in multiple cities, across states, and it doesn't look like a new variant is responsible for all these surges but one common feature in all these places is lack of COVID appropriate behaviour.

Experts have advocated that COVID-19 appropriate behavior like masking up, social distancing, and maintaining hygiene are the only options left before us fight the virus.

With daily cases of Covid-19 showing a surge in some parts of the country, various state governments are putting in place restrictions to contain the spread of the virus and prevent a second wave.

Can re-imposion of lockdown help India curb covid spike?

Experts feel that lockdown, which is basically seen as a pause button is not the right strategy to contain the spread of the virus at this stage. In the initial stage of the pandemic lockdown helped the world to prepare itelf to deal with the crisis. It gave us time to upgrade our health infrastructure, increase the number of hospital beds, our laboratory network, equipment like oxygen beds and ventilators. With everything set in place, now the imposition of lockdown may not be a good idea,given to the present situation.