Coronavirus: India should aim for 10-week total lockdown says, Global Health expert

In India, lockdown was carried out in two phases to prevent coronavirus infection. At present, the number of corona patients in India has reached over 20,000. More than 600 people have died due to the virus. Despite the lockdown, the growing number of positive patients is a worrying sign.

The first lockdown in the country was announced for 21 days. After the first phase ended on April 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced to extend the lockdown till May 3. Since then, many have been waiting for the second phase to end.

Although there is a lockdown in the country till May 3, in some places the lockdown has been relaxed since April 20. Dividing into green, orange and red zones has allowed businesses to start in that area. What exactly will be the increase or end of lockdown in the country after May 3?

The second phase of lockdown is currently underway in India which will end on May 3. Everyone expects the situation to return to normal after the lockdown ends on May 3. But in an exclusive interview with India Today TV, Richard Horton suggested that India should not lift the lockdown.

Reacting to India's soon-approaching end date for the lockdown, he added, "I understand you have to resume economic activity but please don’t rush this if you rush lifting the lockdown and if you have the second wave [of disease] it will be even worse than the first wave."

The pandemic is not permanent in any country, it will end on its own. Work is underway in the right direction to control the coronavirus in our country. That's what Richard Horton said.

Richard Horton explained how it was only with the 10-week aggressive lockdown that China's Wuhan (from where the coronavirus originated) could stop the transmission of the disease.

And what is the guarantee that there will not be a resurgence of Covid-19 after 10 weeks? To this Horton said, "The coronavirus won't spread then because very few people will still have the infection. At the end of 10 weeks, there will be a very low level of infection to cause a mass spread if we go back to a normal routine with precautions.

Reacting to the fact that the lockdown in India will end soon, he said, "We have to start the economic cycle again, but don't rush for it." If you pick up the lockdown in a hurry and then you get the second stage of the disease, it can be worse than the first stage.

China also imposed a 10-week lockdown on Wuhan, which prevented the corona virus from spreading. Therefore, India should also increase the lockdown as much as possible, said Richard Horton.

Wuhan was aggressively locked down from January 23 to April. This has led to a reduction in viral infections. Now the situation there is becoming normal. The virus spreads rapidly in dense populations. Danger if social distance is not followed.