Bizarre strict Covid-19 lockdown orders in Tamil Nadu
The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday extended a lockdown in force for a fortnight by another week and made it stricter. In doing so, however, it revealed a failure to learn from the lessons of the past. In 2020, as the nation first faced the Covid-19 pandemic, the Union government announced a nationwide shutdown with just about four hours’ notice with few details of the nature of lockdown, throwing the country and its economy into turmoil it has yet to fully recover from. In April 2020, Tamil Nadu compounded that error by ordering a “lockdown within a lockdown” forcing large numbers of people to scramble for provisions and groceries. These sudden, poorly thought-out moves have hurt the people, both by forcing large groups to converge in closed spaces to make purchases risking a spike in infections as well as by eroding public faith in government. It’s hard to stay calm and carry on, when your government might upend your universe any moment.
Tamil Nadu, which reported 35,483 cases on Sunday, has a test positivity rate of over 20%. The state, despite having relatively better infrastructure than many others, is stretched for beds, oxygen and medical staff. There is no doubt that a strict lockdown is the need of the hour. However, what is the purpose of a lockdown that allows no grocery or provisions shops to function for a week but allows all shops—including textiles and jewellers—to be open for a full day ahead of the new lockdown? By now, surely the government should have learnt that it is better to allow people to shop in many stores over the whole week—reducing crowds in closed, poorly ventilated spaces where risk of disease transmission is highest—rather than allow all people to shop in a limited number of stores over a single day. Further, the state is yet to explain how families that do not have the wherewithal to purchase and stock provisions for a full week will manage in the coming seven days, given that the government’s promised grocery kits and the second tranche of relief will only be distributed from June 3. Authorities must place both science as well as empathy and an understanding of human behaviour at the centre of decision-making. It is the only way we will defeat the virus.