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India is presently under a 21-day lockdown aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
The announcement of the 21-day nation-wide lockdown was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24.
In his speech, the Prime Minister said, “If we won’t follow the nationwide lockdown for 21 days, we will be pushed back by 21 years.”
The lockdown started on March 25 and i likely to end by mid april.
So, why must the lockdown last for 21-days?
According to a report published in The Hindu, the 21-day quarantine value is derived from the interpretations of past and present. The calculations are based on the estimated incubation period of the virus in a human host. Experts believe that the incubation period of the virus in a human host is about 14 days. However, it takes another week for the residual infection to die out, for the tail end, to be entirely safe. Hence, it is wiser to follow a 21-day quarantine system.
Have the scientific community found a cure for the coronavirus infection yet?
Well, clinical trials for the cure have begun in many places. There are also reports on the effect that antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine would have on the novel coronavirus, or not, are still coming in from different parts of the world.
Public health experts caution that panic-buying of this drug would create a shortage for those who need it and would also have unfortunate consequences on those taking it without medical advice.
On a happy note, Maharashtra’s first Covid-19 positive patient and his wife have fully recovered and are ready to go home. “Be positive, this too shall pass” - this was the statement made by the patient. He too requested the people to follow the government’s order of social distancing. He further said, “Don’t step out of the house and go to doctors immediately if you have symptoms. We came to doctors on our own. We should not create a threat to others’ lives. We don’t know from whom we got infected but you can avoid it by staying at home.”
Tune in next week for another top story. Until then, stay at home, stay safe.
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