Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call, the country is expected to go into a voluntary lockdown on Sunday for 14 hours with an aim to instill in people a message of social distancing.
'Janta Curfew' comes with a twin purpose. According to the Union government, the country has not entered Stage 3 of COVID-19 (when the patient is without history of travel, or contact with a person who has travel history). However, the chances of entering Stage 3 is high, given the country's population density.
As cases continue to rise, the 14-hour 'self quarantine' on Sunday is aimed to stall the spread, or break the chain of transmission, through quarantining and social distancing, rather than going with WHO's recommendation for more testing.
On March 20, 50 new persons were reported positive, the biggest jump in cases a day, taking the total number of cases in the country to over 200.
“We will analyse the data from Sunday's exercise. People's response will be analysed to drive new strategies. It's a fast-changing situation. What was known a day earlier, changes within 24 hours. So, our response has to be similar,” a highly-placed government official told THE WEEK.
There was a feeling among medical practitioners and government officials monitoring the situation that people were not taking enough precautions and that a stronger push was needed. Modi's persuasive speech is expected to drill in that message into those who are still taking it easy.
Modi in his address recalled the times of war when blackouts were ordered to keep people safe from aerial bombings. The exercise was carried multiple times to prepare the people during the actual wars, too, Modi said.
The second purpose of the 'Janta Curfew' is to mentally prepare the large population of harsher lockdown measures that may be on cards in the coming days.
“March 22 was chosen, as it was a Sunday. So, it is easy to enforce any measure at a mass level,” the senior official said.
“We will see how Sunday goes. Let's hope, we may not need more such measures,” he added.
Another official involved in the strategy exercise said the decision to extend Janta Curfew may take into account other issues involved like transportation and daily needs.
A third official, THE WEEK spoke to said, stronger social distancing measures may be in the offing.
The officials were careful in expressing their opinion, saying the purpose was not to spread panic but make people aware.
“Janta Curfew will help break the chain, the speed and the peak of transmission. Social distancing will help,” Joint Secretary (Health) Lav Agarwal said during the government's daily briefing on coronavirus.
Modi also held meetings with the state chief ministers to review the preparations.
The states have already started responding to the crucial two weeks. Various states have asked the district administrators to invoke section 144 in their areas to restrict the movement of people. The orders have been issued in Haryana and Chandigarh as other states join the race to curb the spread.
Punjab has stopped operations of all state transport buses from Friday midnight. Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have stopped the entry of all domestic and foreign tourists, even as India has stopped all commercial flights from foreign countries from March 22.
Cities that have metro trains will stop their services on Sunday. Delhi Metro has already announced that it will not operate its services on Sunday.
On Friday, Agarwal said that states have all laws including IPC, CrPC and those concerning disaster management and emergencies at their disposal to use to take whatever measures they deem fit.
Though Agarwal did not specifically refer to it, sources said that states could use harsher measures against those who were not listening or reporting their illnesses or not taking mandatory quarantines.
Modi's message was also aimed at those who have been prescribing non-proven or unscientific means to cure the disease or stop the spread of the virus.
BJP and RSS, too, have lent their full support to Modi's message, which will result in one strong message going down to the grassroots of the party and organisation.
