The COVID-19 curve of the country is high, the speed of the coronavirus pandemic is seen to be accelerating rapidly. The laxity during the festive season, and the oncoming winter is causing a significant rise in the cases. After seeing this condition again, questions have also arisen in India’s minds that whether a complete lockdown can be imposed in our country again? As on Tuesday Active Covid cases in India rose again thus it was the third increase in the past four days, and fresh infections recorded in the country outnumbered recoveries by more than 5,500.
However, several states across India have reimposed the lockdown restrictions with a sudden spurt in coronavirus cases. While the Delhi government has raised the fine for not wearing face masks to Rs 2,000 and reverted to the earlier cap on the number of wedding guests, night curfews and Section 144 have returned in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and others.
With these decisions, the reimposition of the total shutdown has started doing the rounds. Speculations are rife that PM Modi, after meeting the chief ministers on Tuesday, might announce another lockdown in states where the cases are rising.
Since the country is standing on the verge of the second wave due to laxity in adhering to COVID-19 protocol despite knowing that the coronavirus has not vanished completely. People become normalize with huge gatherings, started visiting without masks or adhering to other government guidelines.
The government was justified in telling people to maintain social distancing and asking them not to assemble in large numbers during the festival season.
If the government announces another lockdown, in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, it would be disastrous for the retail and recreation sector, which is still suffering from the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts said that the fresh nationwide lockdown can create disruption in both the demand and supply of the economy. Analysts believe that the situation will worsen if any option other than a total shutdown would be considered. The order for closure of markets, at a time when retail inflation has reached 7.61 percent (due to a rise in food prices), could have disastrous financial consequences for the country.
Data from Google mobility trends revealed that markets, especially those dealing with non-essentials have not regained their pre-pandemic activity levels. The search engine has provided data on community mobility in six categories— Retail and recreation, grocery and pharmacy, parks, Public transport, workplaces, and homes.
While the mobility-related to grocery and pharmacy entered into positive territory until November 17, the retail and recreation sector, on the other hand, have suffered the most as it was still 15% less than the baseline. It reached its highest post-lockdown value a day before Diwali.
