Lockdown unnecessary; double masking, micro-containment zones needed: Expert

Mumbai, February 20

A senior member of the Maharashtra government’s COVID-19 task force on Saturday said that lockdown is a draconian measure and has limited efficacy in countering the spread of the virus.

According to task force member and endocrinologist Dr Shashank Joshi, promotion of “double masking” (wearing two layers of face covering) and formation of micro-containment zones could be effective.

Maharashtra is witnessing a worrying uptick in infection numbers this month.

“Lockdown is a draconian measure. It seems easy (to enforce) but it is an unwarranted measure. And there is no point in enforcing night curfews,” he said at a panel discussion.

Asked what should the government do in the current situation, Joshi said, “Double masking, maintaining physical distancing, extreme precaution of hygiene and formation of micro-containment zone are the right measures.”

He also said that the distribution of coronavirus vaccine should be decentralized.

“There are some issues with the CoWin app which is slowing down the vaccination procedure. If the state gets more powers, it will be helpful to cover more and more people,” he said.

Dr Subhash Salunkhe, technical advisor to the state government on the COVID-19 outbreak, said the vaccine on coronavirus is safe as over one crore people in the country have been vaccinated and nobody has died or developed serious complications.

“The Centre should expedite the vaccination drive and give more say to the state governments in vaccine distribution,” he said.

On Friday, only over 14,000 people were vaccinated in Maharashtra while new infections are rising in the state. —PTI

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