IS LOCKDOWN THE ONLY WAY TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS IN INDIA? AND IS IT TRUE THAT THE "GOVERNMENT IS IN TRAGIC LOCKDOWN DILEMMA THAT IT HAS TO PICK BETWEEN THE LIVES"

COVID-19, a terrible and devastating pandemic which had already claimed 1,53,822 (approx) lives all over the world. India is also facing the same problem with very high tolls on deaths in certain states i,e on a single day the total number of confirmed cases in Maharashtra was 342. This alone is sufficient to get an idea that how much attention and alertness it demands.

India is a developing middle-class nation and IMF said that it will have a GDP growth in the financial year 2020-21 to be ranging from 1.9% to 2.8% only. And also some pessimists have claimed that it will not show any growth at all, which means the growth will be 0%.

Now directing towards the condition of India in the healthcare and medical sector. India is positioned at 109 out of 141 countries in the ranking list. Here is not the end just to inform you that Italy is at rank 2 in the health sector and it had claimed 22,745 deaths. So the entire picture is clear. Just imagine how many deaths will it claim in India if not taken serious steps.

India is a developing nation and already government had spent a lot of money on providing all the essentials like food, shelter, old age pensions, money to people for their survival etc. The reserves with the government are declining with a very high pace. With the overall lockdown, sales have been dried up and same is with the savings with people is. So, Is government is in dilemma to pick between the lives?

US president Donald Trump have not taken the pandemic seriously or may be because of his casual attitude, US had already claimed 2,40,000 cases and still counting. Also the prime minister of UK Boris Johnson, who suggested the alternative named “Herd Immunity” (Herd immunity is a form of indirect protection from infectious disease that occurs when a large percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, whether through previous infections or vaccination, thereby providing a measure of protection for individuals who are not immune) but after knowing the fact that it would affect 2,60,000 people, he backed off.

Now coming towards India, It is expected to have 400 million people will get affected by this virus till july end with 40 million people under serious condition and 10 millions would be hospitalised. India is only available with 1,00,000 intensive care beds and merely 20,000 ventilators. Some social activists have suggested that lockdown cannot be implemented in India because social distancing is not possible in a country like India. But these facts are directing towards that lockdown is the only way to have control on this virus in India.

Other side is that we also have to look at the people who are badly affected by this lockdown with no food and savings. A daily wage labourer from Bihar said “If I survived coronavirus then job loss and hunger would kill me”. No doubt that the lockdown had made the situation worse. Both the conditions are critical and demand for immediate attention. Government is providing financial support to the people and it is resulting in huge pressure on the financial reserves of the government and making economy weaker day by day.

So can it be said that “Cure is more devastating than disease” and the evidence are in favour of it. COVID-19 will not make claim that number of deaths than what it will claim due to the conditions after the lockdown which include job losses, hunger, poverty, malnutrition and many more serious issues.

Texas Lt. Governer Dan Patrick said that the elderly should be willing to die in order to protect the young ones from the virus. But is it justifying our culture and beliefs?

In the coming weeks, situation will be like there will be two patients affected by this virus one having an age of 50 while other having the age of 20, with both having equal chances of recovery. Some people will say that person aged 20 should be saved because of obvious reason that he/she had much more years to be lived. While others will say that elder one should be saved because that person is more experienced and will contribute more to the society. But in my view the principle of “First Come, First Serve” should be followed, with something of the moral value lost.

It takes years to form civilisation but takes only seconds to be destroyed. So, in this dilemma the choice of decision by the government will show our moral values and will also affect the number of lives we save.

Definitely, in the age of coronavirus, it is important to rightfully take the decision to preserve our values.