What’s more dangerous than Covid-19?
it is appreciable that people have been joined together to clap, indeed they formed groups of hundreds to celebrate our medical professionals, beating the point of the curfew itself
At present, the one thing more harmful than Covid-19 is the mismanagement of Covid-19.
While government intervention is crucial, it is imperative that such intervention is deliberated, the most effective and least harmful. All possible steps must be taken to prevent the spread of the disease, and at the same time panic, and heavy damage to the economy must be avoided.
At a time like this, people in panic have an urge to buy as many necessities as possible, essentially hoarding supplies, preventing other people who need them from accessing them. If something isn’t done about this, people may be saved from corona, just to suffer starvation. What is the right way for the government to intervene in this situation?
First of all, assure people that the government will ensure that there is a constant supply of essential goods throughout. That people have no need to stock up immediately. That alone will stop peoples urge to purchase a decades supply of grain in one day. Additionally, restrict the amount of a good a person may buy at once, and prohibit price gouging. This will ensure no one attempts to hoard or profiteer. Furthermore, this will prevent people from ending up in a huge crowd in a small store, and reduce the infection rate. Imposing a curfew, and allowing people to buy goods for only a few hours in a day, will lead to overcrowding during those few hours. Instead, if leisure areas such as clubs, cinemas and gyms are closed, and only essential stores were open, there will be no need for a curfew, as people have nowhere to congregate, and as the store is open all day, store traffic too will be scarce and steady, slowing spread of the virus.
Stores in the US reserve the time immediately after opening for senior citizens. This is the time immediately after the store has been sterilized, and senior citizens, who have weaker immunity, are allowed to finish shopping before others are allowed in. Stores in France limit the number of persons in a store at a given instant. Their reason is to prevent theft, but the same method will also reduce infection. Why aren’t such methods implemented?
Or better yet, now is the time to promote “Digital India”. Now is the time to promote online grocery stores and online payments, online classes et cetera. This will both reduce spread of the virus, and allow people to carry on their lives; and unlike last time, digital India is being promoted while helping the economy perform better.
It is also time to rethink GST. Indirect taxes are always used to regulate demand. At a time like this, governments must encourage the use of masks and sanitizers, not through speeches but actions. Removing GST on these items now can cause a meaningful decrease in prices, and encourage people to use them.
In the absence of proper management, the Covid-19 may take many more lives than it needs to, and disrupt the economy more than necessary. and currently there is little proper management, with insufficient testing kits, ICUs, Oxygen cylinders etc. More so, now is the worst time for the disease to have struck, with many countries already on the verge of a recession. Covid-19 may even push the world into an economic crisis, which may cause even more suffering and chaos. Having seen a number of countries already suffer from Covid-19, china now being almost corona-free, India definitely should have learnt a lot, and be handling this crisis way better. China took too long to recognize the seriousness of the issue, but as soon as it did, they built a mega hospital in just ten days. The crisis in India is becoming serious and we haven’t even begun constructing hospitals yet, in spite of the huge shortage of hospital beds. And while in most countries around the world Testing for corona is free, even if treatment is not, in India, testing alone will set you back Rs. 5000, while the median monthly income is only Rs. 24000
Most people started self-quarantine a week ago. Many companies have started work from home programs. If the government wishes to help, it must do what only the government can do, not tell people to do what they’re already doing, not do what social media influencers can do. Let the government provide tax cuts and subsidies, and ensure peoples income isn’t disrupted. Let it ensure sufficient masks and enough sanitizers are produced, and let it ensure those who most need it get it, let it take concrete steps for protection of doctors from violence, let it ensure they get the best possible infrastructure and the supplies they need. Let it not make hollow speeches, let it not sell shallow gestures. It is time for the government to do something significant and worthy of its power. In the absence of these, no number of feel good gestures mean anything. Of course, it is appreciable that people have been joined together to clap, indeed they formed groups of hundreds to celebrate our medical professionals, beating the point of the curfew itself. Morale and rhetoric without a foundation of concrete measures is mere lip service, and there is nothing more dangerous in a crisis.
The government is not a child. It needn’t be encouraged and appreciated for doing little positive, simply because in the past in has done negative. The government is not a celebrity volunteering his time for the country but a public employee, and now is the time it must be criticized most for its shortcomings. The government is supposed to be doing much more. And we’re supposed to be asking it to be doing much more. Not sitting complacent while it doesn’t give the issue the attention it requires. We need and deserve so much more.