India for the second day in a row recorded a single-day spike of over two lakh Covid cases. The massive spurt in Covid cases has put states with high infection rates like Maharashtra, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh under pressure to impose a complete lockdown to break the chain of transmission.
However, a section of noted scientists believes that instead of preventing people from having any social contacts, it is advisable to take steps to make such contacts safe.
Dr Thekkekara Jacob John, noted virologist and veteran vaccine researcher, uses HIV analogy to get his point across to people and the government.
바카라What did you want when HIV came? 바카라no sex바카라 or 바카라safe sex바카라 i.e. sex with a condom? People chose sex with condoms after a lot of persuasion. So, wearing a mask is a remedy, not the lockdown,바카라 explains Dr John.
Even at the time of the first countrywide lockdown imposed in March last year, he had opposed it because he believes the absence of social contact is detrimental to the mental health of the people since human beings are social animals.
바카라We cannot live without social interaction. We are social animals. So why adopt a measure which makes people helpless to break or disobey? It is better that we should make them realize that universal mask-wearing makes social contact safe,바카라 Dr John said.
Professor Vasanthapuram Ravi, a noted virologist, who is on the advisory board of the Sputnik V vaccine, agrees that complete lockdown is not a solution and it is impractical too.
Dr Ravi was Dean (Basic Sciences) at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), and worked extensively when the HIV virus spread during the late 80s and 90s.
바카라Force can바카라t change people바카라s behaviour. During HIV days, people were not ready to wear condoms like today they are not ready to wear masks,바카라 he said adding that the only way was to educate people about safe sex rather than telling them to have no sex.
Many health experts on HIV say that many people still don't use a condom and have unsafe sex but the government keeps on emphasizing the need for it even today.
바카라I think partial restrictions are acceptable like a speed-breaker on the road to help slow the transmission. However, I don바카라t support any step that will hamper economic activity,바카라 Dr Ravi said.
He also believes that if people don바카라t wear masks, vaccination is the only way to slow down the progress of the virus.
Another virus scientist Professor Ramaswamy Pitchappan바카라now a visiting professor at the School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University바카라advocates continuous efforts to encourage people to adopt appropriate Covid behaviour rather than imposing a lockdown.
바카라Lockdown would be an economic disaster. It may not serve the purpose. Everything should be allowed to function with reasonable restrictions,바카라 Prof Pitchappan said.
Some health experts also said that when the first countrywide lockdown was imposed on March 24, the daily active cases were less than 100 and by the time the country started the unlocking process from July onwards the daily active cases touched the 20,000 marks.
바카라It suggests that that complete lockdown caused a huge damage on the economic front but literally it didn't achieve anything in our fight against the disease,바카라 a senior government health official said.
