AIIMS Director states main argument against total lockdown; criteria for local lockdowns

As India continues to battle against the unprecedented second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Tuesday said that a strict lockdown should be imposed in areas where the case positivity rate is above 10 per cent or the bed occupancy is above 60 per cent. The AIIMS Director made these remarks while stressing that clamping such restrictions all over the country cannot be a solution, keeping in mind people's livelihoods. 

AIIMS Director on lockdown strategy to battle COVID-19

Rejecting the strategy of night curfews and weekend lockdowns by some states to reduce the number of Coronavirus cases, Dr Randeep Guleria said that these strategies would not have much of an impact on the transmission cycle. He further said that there should be a gradual and graded unlocking in such areas once the positivity rate reduces. 

Suggesting that there should be restrictions on people travelling from areas that have a high positivity rate to places with a low positivity rate to curb the spread of the infection, when asked for his views on imposing a nationwide lockdown, Guleria said that a complete national lockdown cannot be a solution as it will impact the daily wage labourers. Day-to-day activities in areas with a low positivity rate should be allowed with restrictions, he suggested. The AIIMS Director said that aggressive containment measures have to be put in place for a sufficient period of time as no healthcare infrastructure can manage this kind of a caseload. 

COVID-19 situation in India

As India continues to grapple with the pandemic, it has so far recorded over 2,06,65,148 positive COVID-19 cases, out of which, 1,69,51,731 have successfully recovered and 2,26,188 have died. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the past 24 hours, 3,82,315 new cases, 3,38,439 fresh recoveries and 3,780 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases in the country is 34,87,229. 

(Image: ANI, PTI)