HYDERABAD: Something is better than nothing. This is the response of public health experts to the Telangana government’s decision to impose night curfew in the State for the next 10 days. Whether it will be of any use to curtail the spread of Covid-19 remains to be seen, they said. They have urged the government to impose more restrictions and not leave it to the people to follow Covid-19 guidelines — a strategy that rarely works.
“If Telangana doesn’t impose restrictions on the movement of people, the peak will only arrive by mid-June or July. The idea is for the peak to happen in May and see a decline after that, for which more steps need to be taken,” said Dr GVS Murthy, Director, Indian Institute of Preventive Health, Hyderabad. At present, the State has 42,853 active cases.
Dr Murthy stated that while the night curfew would ensure that gatherings for leisure don’t happen anymore in pubs, malls, cinema theatres, restaurants, function halls etc., it will still not be enough to cut the rate of infectivity at present. “We need to impose more ‘pulse lockdowns,’ which are imposed only on weekends or public holidays, to ensure there is some significant cut in the transmission of the virus. Along with this, strict border checks of incoming travellers, especially from Maharashtra and Karnataka, are needed,” added Dr Murthy.
In fact, experts maintain that the curfew should be implemented to ensure that the people realise the importance of following steps to minimise the spread of the virus rather than invoke penal provisions on violators. Dr Subodh Kandamuthan, Director, Centre for Health Care Management at Administrative Staff College of India, said, “Such curfews are not as extreme as a complete lockdown, but do serve as a caution to the people. At present, there is no restriction at all, so some measures are welcome.”
Experts note that while there was no conclusive evidence that such curfews help, the government could give it a try. They also advocated for several other smaller steps like speeding up vaccinations and testing people in areas with a high number of cases. “At present, the pandemic is in a growing stage, so more testing is needed in places where cases are spreading,” said Health Economist Rijo M John.