Express News Service

KOCHI: The jury is still out on the impacts of a statewide lockdown. However, there is no difference of opinion that total shutdown could work as the panacea for a battered healthcare machinery.  Medics and healthcare workers in the state are exhausted, dealing with Covid-19 cases for more than six now. And since they do not see an end to the pandemic, not at least for the next six months, experts say that a strategically planned complete lockdown for three weeks can give a breather for these professionals. 

“We need the healthcare workers to be fully fit to take care of the patients, Covid or otherwise. The system will be in jeopardy if enough people are not there to take care of the sick in hospital. Kerala is still not amongst the worst-affected states in the country, but once the healthcare workers are infected, it will cost us many lives. The spread of the infection will happen anyway; a lockdown cannot prevent it. But it can slow down the spread and provide a much-needed respite to healthcare workers,” said Monu Varghese, a Kochi-based pulmonologist. 

Frontline workers and health officials admit that they are tired and worn out. But they know that they are not done yet. “It is true that we have been working round-the-clock preparing contact lists, tracking down people, testing suspected cases, and so on. The infection is spreading real quick and just monitoring the clusters is a tough task. If a lockdown is what it takes to contain the spread, then it is the need of the hour,” said a health official with the surveillance team. 

Dr Anup R Warrier, an infectious disease expert, said that a planned lockdown of three weeks might help contain the spread of the virus for at least a few more weeks. “Considering the present condition of the healthcare workers and officials, it makes a lot of sense in cutting them some slack. The strategy for lockdown should be total restriction on social gatherings. Testing should be done in clusters that pose a high risk of spreading the infection. A well-planned lockdown can definitely bring down the spread to some level,” said Dr Warrier.