Every country in world is facing the same question. When and how to lift the lockdown. If we continue more and more people will die of hunger as we don’t have any magical never ending food stock. Economy is already nose diving, unemployment rate is all time high.
Governments all over world have to make a critical choice where the least number of people suffer from corona and hunger. Sudden opening of lockdown will result in flare up of cases and a new wave of deaths.
Lockdown is supposed to give the time for strategic planning and its implementation.
Out of 100 positive cases, 35 may be totally asymptomatic, 50 only with mild symptoms, and the remaining 15 may require hospitalisation. Currently we are testing the symptomatic ones and their close contacts. There are possibilities of undetected asymptomatic positive cases in community. If you lift the lockdown suddenly, these asymptomatic cases will result in spurt of symptomatic cases.
Our healthcare facilities were not designed to handle this kind of exceptional situation. We have limited number of ICUs, intensivists, PPE, masks, sanitizer etc needed to fight this pandemic. Lockdown has given us time to arrange for the same. By gradually opening the restrictions, we shall be able to handle the flood of patients. Our government is working in same direction.
The disease itself doesn’t look to be vanishing anytime soon. We have to accept the new normals. Face masks in public area, public transport, or in private transport with co-passengers, use of sanitiser after coming in contact with any fomites, social distancing, avoiding crowded places like malls, cinema etc are going to be included in our habits.
With passing time we will have corona vaccine and better anti-viral drugs, better understanding of its patho-physiology. Doctors will learn how to best manage the Covid cases. Hopefully all these will happen in 2020 itself.
All countries will gradually lift the restrictions depending on their preparedness and economic strength.
