The decision of the Tamil Nadu government to implement a complete lockdown between April 26-29 has definitely put the citizens of TN into a state of shock leaving the more people symptomatic to the deadly virus. While Tamil Nadu so far has strategized its plan of containing COVID-19 in an effective manner, the sudden decision to implement a ‘complete lockdown’ resulted in mayhem across the state, especially in Chennai. Epidemiologists and experts have been repeatedly pointing out that the lockdown must be lifted in a phased manner. However, this has been misconstrued by the Tamil Nadu Government. The release and withdrawal of orders is making things ambiguous for the common man to understand.
The announcement of a ‘complete lockdown’ when there was already an existing nation-wide lockdown led to an abrupt rush of people to throng the Koyambedu Market. People resorted to panic buying to stock up their essentials, leaving the vendors shocked. Though the government had time and again clarified that there will never be any shortage in the supply of essential commodities, the innocuous actions of the citizens with blatant disregard to the adherence of social distancing have severed the spread of COVID-19 in the city. This has sent the battle against the virus to unchartered territories. The Koyambedu episode has made one wonder if this will overshadow and outnumber the cases that were reported due to the Tablighi Jamaat conference.
On May 4, the city reported 527 positive cases out of which 266 are from Chennai. The number of active cases till date has touched 2,107. With many of them having a contact / travel history to the market,it has has emerged as the new hotspot that is leading to a massive outbreak across the city. If it was Wuhan for China, it looks like, it will be Koyambedu for Chennai.
It is also a no-brainer to blame the police personnel as they have been at the forefront ever since the pandemic started and have been implement the lockdown in toto by sensitizing the people on social distancing and staying at home. They have seized nearly 3.6 lakh vehicles with FIRs registered against the violators, and have time and again urged the public especially the youngsters to maintain civic sense and act in compliance with the decisions of the Government. However, the sudden decision of the government put the police in a fix with the situation falling out of their hands. Fortunately, our state is not a Banana Republic where the state manhandles citizens according to its whims and fancies and indulges in coercive activities.
As we all grapple with the situation created by the pandemic, the state should act in the best interest of what needs to be done to control the spread of COVID-19. While the double lockdown was aimed at controlling the spread, it has been otherwise. The authorities have now decentralized the market into two and have shifted the place of the market. It is a relief that 98% percent of the reported cases are asymptomatic. Despite the fact that the government is undertaking an uphill task to ensure there is no community transmission, the recent passivity of imposing a double lockdown by the Tamil Nadu government still is a case of faulty decision making.