COVID-19 lockdown in India
On the evening of 24 March 2020, the Government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, limiting the movement of the entire 1.38 billion (138 crores) population of India as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic in India.[1] It was ordered after a 14-hour voluntary public curfew on 22 March, followed by enforcement of a series of regulations in COVID-19 affected countries.[2][3] The lockdown was placed when the number of confirmed positive coronavirus cases in India was approximately 500.[1] Upon its announcement, a mass movement of people across the country was described as the largest since the partition of India in 1947.[4] Observers stated that the lockdown had slowed the growth rate of the pandemic by 6 April to a rate of doubling every six days,[5] and by 18 April, to a rate of doubling every eight days.[6] As the end of the first lockdown period approached, state governments and other advisory committees recommended extending the lockdown.[7] The governments of Odisha and Punjab extended the state lockdowns to 1 May.[8] Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, and Telangana followed suit.[9][10] On 14 April, Prime minister Narendra Modi extended the nationwide lockdown until 3 May, on the written recommendation of governors and lieutenant governors of all the states, with conditional relaxations after 20 April for the regions where the spread had been contained or was minimal.[11]
COVID-19 lockdown in India
Nationwide lockdown:
- Phase 1: 25 March 2020 – 14 April 2020 (21 days)
- Phase 2: 15 April 2020 – 3 May 2020 (19 days)
- Phase 3: 4 May 2020 – 17 May 2020 (14 days)
- Phase 4: 18 May 2020 – 31 May 2020 (14 days)
Unlock:
- Unlock 1.0: 1 June 2020 – 30 June 2020 (30 days)
- Unlock 2.0: 1 July 2020 – 31 July 2020 (31 days)
- Unlock 3.0: 1 August 2020 – 31 August 2020 (31 days)
- Unlock 4.0: 1 September 2020 - 30 September 2020 (30 days)
- Unlock 5.0: 1 October 2020 - 31 October 2020 (31 days)
- Unlock 6.0: 1 November 2020 - 30 November 2020 (30 days)
- Unlock 7.0: 1 December 2020 - 31 December 2020 (31 days)
- Unlock 8.0: 1 January 2021 - 31 January 2021 (31 days)
- Unlock 9.0: 1 February 2021 - 28 February 2021 (28 days)
- Unlock 10.0: 1 March 2021 - 31 March 2021 (31 days)
- Unlock 11.0: 1 April 2021 - 30 April 2021 (30 days)
- Unlock 12.0: 1 May 2021 - 31 May 2021 (31 days)
- Unlock 13.0: 1 June 2021 - 30 June 2021 (30 days)
- Unlock 14.0: 1 July 2021 - 31 July 2021 (31 days)
- Unlock 15.0: 1 August 2021 - 31 August 2021 (31 days)
- Unlock 16.0 : 1 September 2021 - 30 September 2021 (30 days)
- Unlock 17.0 : 1 October 2021 - 31 October 2021 (31 days)
- Unlock 18.0: 1 November 2021-30 November 2021 (30 days)
- Unlock 19.0: 1 December 2021-31 December 2021 (31 days)
- Unlock 20.0: 1 January 2022-31 January 2022 (31 days)
- Unlock 21.0: 1 February 2022-28 February 2022 (28 days)
- Unlock 22.0: 1 March 2022-31 March 2022 (31 days)
To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
- All services and shops closed except pharmacies, hospitals, banks, grocery shops and other essential services
- Closure of commercial and private establishments (only work-from-home allowed)
- Suspension of all fighting, gaming, training, research institutions
- Closure of all places of worship
- Suspension of all non-essential public and private transport
- Prohibition of all social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious activities
Completely lifted
On 1 May, the Government of India extended the nationwide lockdown further by two weeks until 17 May. The Government divided all the districts into three zones based on the spread of the virus—green, red, and orange—with relaxations applied accordingly.[12] On 17 May, the lockdown was further extended until 31 May by the National Disaster Management Authority.[13]
On 30 May, it was announced that lockdown restrictions were to be lifted from then onwards, while the lockdown would be further extended until 30 June for only the containment zones. Services would be resumed in a phased manner starting from 8 June. It was termed as "Unlock 1.0".[14] Modi later clarified that the lockdown phase in the country was over and that 'unlock' had already begun.[15]
The second phase of unlock, Unlock 2.0, was announced for the period of 1 to 31 July, with more ease in restrictions.[16] Unlock 3.0 was announced for August.[17] Similarly, Unlock 4.0 was announced for September[18] and Unlock 5.0 for the month of October.[19] In the same way, Unlock 6.0 was announced for the month of November,[20] Unlock 7.0 was announced for the month of December.[21]
In 2021, due to the largest wave of infection in the country, several state governments, including Uttar Pradesh,[22] and Delhi,[23] announced complete lockdowns in April 2021.
Reception[edit]
Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India, praised the response describing it as "timely, comprehensive and robust".[2] WHO executive director, Mike Ryan said that lockdowns alone will not eliminate coronavirus. He said that India must take necessary measures to prevent a second and third wave of infections.[155] On 3 April 2020, Dr David Nabarro, WHO's special envoy on the disease, said that the "Lockdown in India was early, far-sighted and courageous" and was better than waiting for another 3 or 4 weeks.[156]
In late March, two researchers from the University of Cambridge came up with a new mathematical model that predicts a flat 49-day countrywide lockdown or sustained lockdown with periodic relaxation extending over two months may be necessary to prevent COVID-19 resurgence in India.[157]
According to The Economist, the lockdown was "all but certain to have exacerbated" the devastation of the pandemic.[158]
The Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) issued a report in late March, in collaboration with researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Princeton University, where it said that a national lockdown is not "productive" and could cause "serious economic damage". It advocated state-level lockdowns in the most affected states. Its models predicted that in the best-case scenario, a peak of one million hospitalisations would be encountered in early June.[159][160][161][a] In an op-ed in The New York Times, the CDDEP director Laxminarayan explained that if the national lockdown finds good compliance, it would reduce the peak infections in early May by 70 to 80 percent, but still 1 million would require hospitalisation and critical care. He further hypothesised If the lockdown was not imposed the number of critical patients would have reached 5-6 million.[163]
The CDDEP released another report on 20 April, again in collaboration with researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Princeton University. This report discussed the "potential impact of the lockdown". The study concluded that the lockdown would help in significantly slowing the spread of COVID-19 in the country. It said that the lockdown would buy the government critical precursory time to expand COVID-19 healthcare infrastructure, by keeping the hospitalisation rates in check and preventing the overwhelming of existing healthcare facilities. The study also said that the lockdown measures like physical distancing, ban on social gatherings, and movement restrictions would further delay and reduce the peak of infections and hospitalisation.[164]
Economist Jean Drèze stated that the lockdown had been "almost a death sentence" for the underprivileged of the country, in an interview with News18. He went on to say, "The policies are made or influenced by a class of people who pay little attention to the consequences for the underprivileged".[165]