Coronavirus has created a new norm for human interaction: social distancing, improving hygiene with hand sanitizer, wearing a mask and quarantining.? ??
The world has been thrown off the rails and countries are scrapping to contain the virus. India too, is grappling with the disease and has recorded close to?60,000 COVID-19 cases as the states recorded over 3,000 coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day.?
The number of?COVID-19 related deaths?in India increased to 1,981.?
India is under nationwide lockdown until at least May 17, but government will have to take a big call if it wants to extend the restrictions which could mean the economic activity remains effected, something the centre doesn't want as revenue suffers and unemployment surges.
There is no cure for coronavirus yet and the government has now said that "we need to live with the virus", an indication that as and when the lockdown is eased, there will be a new normal.?
Yesterday, the government urged people to make COVID-19 prevention guidelines a part of their lives as a behavioural change amid easing of restrictions and migrant labourers returning home.
Addressing a press conference, joint secretary of the Union Health Ministry, Lav Agarwal said the cases have spiked in recent days, even as he asserted that the peak of the disease can be avoided if the prescribed dos and don'ts are followed.
"As we talk of relaxations to the lockdown and of migrant workers returning back to their respective homes, there is a big challenge in front of us that we also have to learn to live with the virus," he said.
"And when we are talking about learning to live with the virus then it is very important that the guidelines that are there on saving oneself from the virus are adopted in the community as a behavioural change," Agarwal said.
In simple terms, this is the clearest hint that government might be planning for a phased exit plan, but it would take a long time before things go back to how they used to be a few months back.?
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also recently said people will have to be ready to live with the novel coronavirus and that time has come to re-open the city, as the government announced certain relaxations.??
A call will have to be taken on the lockdown extension soon, and with cases increasing there could still be restrictions after May 17 in many states that have seen bulk of the cases.