Letter to BS: Lockdown should be withdrawn in a phased manner

Over the last few days there has been demand in the media to stretch the current lockdown period beyond April 14. Assam Finance Mi­nister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that everything should not be opened on April 15; rather the lockdown should be lifted systematically and scientifically to avoid chaos. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, after a recent meeting of the Cabinet, said that a decision would be taken "in the national interest" at the right time.

India is monitoring the world situation to be able to fight the highly contagious virus effectively. My personal opinion is that the lockdown should be withdrawn in a phased manner. That is because, saving lives is more important than saving the economy. Lifting the lockdown unsystematically will certainly increase the incidence of Covid-19 infection. Therefore, the government must take a considered step so that people do not face the kind of situation many Western countries are facing.

A L Nadwi  Bangalore

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