Chennai: Is Sunday curfew helping us? Not everyone is sure – Times of India

A pigeon makes the most of the deserted Royapuram flyover during the complete lockdown on Sunday

CHENNAI: Chennai has enforced complete lockdown on Sunday for a while now but experts and doctors stand divided on whether one-day lockdown will help the government in controlling the spread of Covid-19.
While some said that there was no clear evidence so far that it has reduced transmission as markets and shops remain overcrowded every Saturday,, others said that poor implementation of a lockdown can’t be a reason to undermine its effectiveness.
Some even say that excess crowding on Saturdays could accelerate Covid-19 transmission rate and might see Chennai achieve herd immunity soon.
Any lockdown has two effects. First it slows down the epidemic and then the time towards reaching herd immunity. But in this case where there is a heavy rush in markets the day before, it might facilitate faster transmission. According to Jayaprakash Muliyil, Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Epidemiology, it can be interpreted either way.
“Anyway, Chennai is fast approaching the herd level that I have mentioned in the past as old containment zones were reporting lesser cases and cases are picking up in new areas. These two phenomena put together you still have a flat line (infection curve),” the epidemiologist added. Official Data says that Chennai has reported about 1,100-1,300 new cases everyday last week.
Public health expert P Kuganantham, who is a member of the governmentappointed expert medical committee, however asserted that Sunday lockdowns have helped in breaking the transmission chain and has reduced disease spread in Chennai.
Though shops were crowded on Saturdays, it would have been the case on any other day too. But Sundays were chosen because public movement was much higher in the city on this day (particularly at meat shops and markets) compared to any other day in the week, he added.
Private hospital doctors said that an epidemic usually is supposed to reduce in about 100 days but lockdowns have prolonged it and if there are enough beds in hospitals the idea should be to reduce the duration of the epidemic.
AM Vikramaraja, president, Federation of Tamil Nadu Traders’ Association said that neighbouring states like Karnataka have declared that lockdown was not the solution and TN by enforcing such restrictions on Sundays was only making things worse.
“Just like few markets in Delhi which are allowed to operate 24/7, Tamil Nadu too should increase working hours to reduce crowd. Markets can even work in three shifts. By this, police and corporation officials can ensure that everybody wore masks and maintained social distancing,” he added.