Coronavirus: Lockdown again in India to stop spread of 'Omicron' variant? what experts say
By Lokmat English Desk | Published: December 1, 2021 10:18 PM2021-12-01T22:18:57+5:302021-12-01T22:18:57+5:30
Next 
Anxiety is growing day by day due to the new Omicron' COVID-19 variant Efforts are being made to curb the spread of this variant by banning international flights and imposing restrictions on passengers. However, the list of countries affected by the Omicron variant continues to grow.
The threat Omicron's terror has led some countries to take drastic decisions like lockdown. So will there be another lockdown in India? Such fear is in the minds of common people. The first wave of COVID-19 spread in India around March 2020. Strict lockdown were then imposed.
Will the spread of new variant trigger lockdown in India? Swami Ankleshwar Iyer says that if the lockdown starts again in India, that decision will be wrong. If the country starts to lock down again, the number of poor people will suffer big time.
The virus is very deadly and many died, not because of illness, but because of a lack of health care. The highest number of deaths occurred in people over 70 years of age.
Covid patients under 16 years of age have a low mortality rate. Schools are still closed. Online education is being imparted. But it is not possible for poor students in the village to avail this facility. These students were deprived of education for more than 500 days.
According to various studies, 200 million people in India are trapped in poverty due to lockdown with unemployment on the rise and due to closure of small businesses the GDP has seen a historic decline.
Swamy said schools would be reopened during the lockdown and efforts would be made to keep businesses running as long as possible.
The ban on international flights has hurt the tourism business. Although some countries have banned flights from Africa, this variant has been found in Europe and the United States.
In such cases vaccination is the best option. 70% of the population in India has not yet received two doses of the vaccine. The government is considering a booster dose of the vaccine and one dose a year. It may be more effective to give different vaccines to the same person.
The combination of vaccines used against HIV has proved to be effective. No vaccine can provide 100% protection against the virus.
