The day government announced to close down schools as ameasure to ward off this deadly virus, the problem started sounding real.Although the initial reactions were mixed, and some people thought that theadministration should have waited some more time to take such a decision, butsoon the wisdom of this decision dawned on all. The way this deadly viruswreaked havoc in countries like Iran and Italy, made it clear that the onlydefense against this disease is to stay home, and minimize human interaction asmuch as possible. Just a day or two later, government closed down more publicspaces like parks and restaurants, besides issuing advisories against publicgatherings. In the same line of action it was further decided that in someareas teaching staff will not be asked to come to schools. All this,cumulatively means that government wants people to stay home, and stay safe. Ifthe measures taken by the more affected countries is any indication it is justthe beginning. In China, where the virus first struck, the only way it hasstarted receding, is the closing down of all public spaces. The pictures thatcame from cities like Wuhan gives us a sense of how an entire population stayedoff roads, markets, and offices. Same is the case with other countries. Even,as the reports suggest, the US is taking some harsh steps to fight thisdisease. In this backdrop the question surfaces up that should the administrationin JK take more decisions to fight this disease. We have been lucky, till now,that there is no spike in the case of corona affected patients, as thestatistics suggest. That means we havesome breathing time. The pattern of the spread of this disease suggests thatafter an initial lazy unfurling, it suddenly goes up and hits a huge number ofpeople. This means that before it, God forbid, spikes, government should closedown the public spaces that are not performing any emergency services. Afterall if there is no class work, why ask the staff to come and be present.Similarly the staff in many offices performing no emergency duties can be askedto work from home, and connect to the office online. Here we need to remind theauthorities that normal internet services should be restored before yesterday.Not doing so means playing with the lives of the people.
One more step that is badly needed is to disallow peoplefrom visiting patients in the hospitals. Only those who attend the patients shouldbe allowed to stay in the hospitals. And in case of hospitalized patients, ifany of them can be managed at home, should be discharged. We still have time,before it hits in a manner it has in other countries. These are not usualtimes. In abnormal situations, extraordinary decisions are taken. So thegovernment shouldn’t dally in taking a decision as to which offices, and publicspaces, are to be kept open for emergency purposes. All other spaces need to besealed for the time being. This can allow the system to better fight thepandemic. It is not a routine administrative affair, it is a life threateningsituation. Right now it seems we have not woken up fully; there is an elementof denial and that is dangerous. It is true we should not panic, but at thesame time we should do what needs to be done.