Several states including Delhi have announced major curbs on public life in view of the marginal ‘spread’ of the Covid pandemic and surfacing of scores of Omicron variant cases. The national capital is put on a yellow alert with inbuilt curbs on public life, schooling and gatherings while a night curfew for around six hours is ordered for Delhi as also Maharashtra, Karnataka, UP, Kerala etc. Governments faced with a pandemic would need to act and act tough but need not go for an overkill. It is well-acknowledged that the Omicron variant is not lethal though it spreads faster. In rare cases is death is linked to Omicron. The symptoms are mild and there’s no cause for panic. It is quite likely that more variants of the Chinese-induced pandemic will surface in due course of time, and the world would need to battle them too. Life, anyhow, must go on with least disruptions.
It is clear by now that in March 2020, India went in for an unwarranted nationwide shutdown lasting weeks and then more region-specific lockdowns came. The national economy went into a tailspin and recovery thereafter was slow. When only some major cities and states were affected, at the start, there was little reason to have ordered a nationwide shutdown, other than for the misconception that this was the magic wand to wipe out the pandemic. Other religiously loaded gimmicks advised by the top leadership only made India a laughing stock. Yet, the damage was done. Note the fact that it was during the Covid period that the Bihar assembly polls were held. Large gatherings threw caution to the winds and observed no Covid-appropriate behaviour. But, this did not result in any massive spread of Covid19 there. So too with West Bengal later, where massive rallies were held one after another and no Covid norm was followed even when Prime Minister Modi addressed the gatherings. There was no major spurt there as well.
Trains and buses resumed running after a long period of halt, and yet the Covid scenario has only improved, other than during the second wave when the government was in the docks. The government failed to adequately equip the hospitals with oxygen and ICU beds though medical experts had warned of the possibility of there being a crisis of both. The large-scale vaccinations are believed to have helped. Now a booster dose is advised. There are those who minted money out of human misery. Precautions are a must. People would need to be alert and caution is the byword; but let there be no overkill on this count.