To clamp down or not...

As the country stares at the new Covid-19 variant Omicron and a third wave, the state government faces a tough call - whether to impose strict measures or go for limited curbs in places having high caseload. Those in favour of a lockdown argue that it is the only way out as Omicron is highly contagious and even fully-vaccinated people are falling prey to it. However, critics feel that curfews and lockdowns do little to prevent the spread of the virus and instead cripple the economy and increase the hardship of the poor.

Curfews, lockdowns unscientific- Purushotham P | Advocate and Urban Activist

People have suffered enough in the previous lockdowns and most of them are still unable to sustain themselves in the society and conditions. Political parties and politicians are roaming freely without any restrictions, but the general public are put under house arrest in the name of curfew and weekend lock down. Does the virus spread only on weekends and at night and only to the general public?

Bengaluru figures among cities with a rising number of cases, but should the whole state face the curbs. What about daily wage employees? professionals? street vendors? Cab drivers? farmers and the whole society.

Many committed suicide during the previous lockdowns due to stress and being unable to maintain families due to pay cuts and job losses. Many youngsters lost their lives due to these stress and anxiety.

The Government is killing the general public in the name of restrictions and curfews. Many have died due to these curbs than the virus. It’s high time we realise that restrictions should be imposed only in places with a high number of Covid-19 cases. This is more scientific than night curfews and weekend lockdowns, which also sparks panic among the people.

When politicians can travel freely from one state to another, attending meetings without any restrictions only to the normal public or spreads is ridiculous.

Even within Bengaluru, restriction should be imposed only in suburbs that have a high concentration of Covid and Omircron cases. When the government cannot provide food and shelter to each and every one, it cannot impose restrictions without valuing the needs of each person.

Going forward, we need a targeted approach, instead of a one-size-fits-all solution like a lockdown or curfew. The government should keep a close watch on migration corridors as there could be a spike in Covid infection. It is also time to strengthen the rural health system.

It’s high time the people also realise that it’s their life and they should take care by following precautions.

Hence the government must remove all these restrictions and let the public stay in peace and safe conditions rather than making them fear for everything.

Markets had returned to normalcy and there was room for growth, which the government has now taken away. The restrictions have become more of an inconvenience than a solution.

Why didn’t you restrict people coming from abroad? Why didn’t you impose compulsory institutional quarantine? Because of the mistakes of others, the whole state is being subjected to this pain.

The current situation is different from last year, when there was no Covid vaccine in the country, nor the infrastructure to produce PPE kits and other much-needed medical goods. So this time there is no need for a curfew across the state. (As told to Nischith N.)

Strict measures needed to curb the virus- Dr. Vidya V Bhat, Medical Director, | Radhakrishna Multispeciality Hospital

Lockdown is not the ultimate solution currently but we need to think about alternative methods to curb the new variant. Already the economy is down and everyone will go hungry. We cannot prevent the increase in the number of Covid cases but it is possible to control the surge. We have experienced two waves earlier. So necessary measures have to be taken to effectively tackle the third wave and new variants.

Coronavirus cases have recorded the steepest rise in nearly two months amid the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant. Most of the people are asymptomatic and basically the government has to immunize everyone and basically kids as early as possible. Start giving booster doses to everyone who has completed six months of a second dose. Lockdown will not help since most of them are asymptomatic and there is no alternative.

The Government should impose strict rules and postpone the public gatherings and weddings for a month and this will be helpful and may control the spread of the new variant, because the disease is mostly spread by symptomatic and by patients who are in the hospital.

Government has to come up with a strategic way of handling the situation this time since Covid tests cannot be done t