ALREADY recovering from a major slump caused by last year’s prolonged lockdown, restaurants and clubs in Delhi and elsewhere are yet again filled with trepidation since the announcement of a night curfew in various cities of the country from the start of April this year. While some restaurateurs said the move was still better than a complete lockdown and some business could be had in the daytime, most said the economic toll it took on them would prove disastrous. Fine-dining restaurants have their peak hours between 7 pm and 11 pm, and a night curfew from 9 or 10 pm onwards would mean little to no footfall. Restaurants across the country are just limping back to normalcy.

 

Most had reopened in September after months of COVID-induced shutdown and the footfall was understandably low for the first few months of the unlock phase before they started seeing a slow recovery. Footfalls, even as late as February this year, saw reaching just about 50-60 per cent of its pre-COVID numbers. Now with the new COVID control directives in place, the benefits of the marginal gains made will again be negated and reversed as a fallout. Restaurants employ lakhs of workers – from chefs, waiters, guards to managers. Their closure even for a brief phase means loss of livelihood for those lakhs. Several restaurants, eateries, dhabas, bars and clubs have already wound up due to last year’s crisis as they could not manage to stay afloat. Another onslaught on them is bound to ruin the hospitality industry. The travel and tourism industry is already hitting new lows with every passing day. Growing COVID positive and fatality numbers in the country are keeping people indoors and all the tourist hotspots are having a lean season even at a time of the year when tourist flow is supposed to be the highest. On top of that, whatever little business happens is killed by further clampdown like curfews.

 

However, it has to be admitted that corona is a major blip for all of us at this time. The Government’s options are limited and abiding by the protocols of isolation and limiting movement is perhaps the best way to early normalcy. We could contain the first wave of corona in 2020 and keep the figures down largely due to the early stringent measures put in place, even at the cost of the economy. But repeated lockdowns can prove fatal for a growing economy like ours and people will start dying of starvation, since we already had a near beleaguered time following last year’s closure. In such a piquant situation, the only way is to effect phased lockdowns or designate containment zones in pockets of large cities rather than implementing complete lockdown. Complete lockdown is certainly a better way to prevent the spread of the highly contagious infection, yet, not one that bespeaks economic prudence. It must be remembered that the onus lies as much on us as it is on the Government.

 

The Government can and needs to roll out more vaccines and expedite vaccination drives to cover more and more people in the shortest possible time so that at least the virulence of the disease can be softened. But it is in our hands-on how well we protect ourselves from it and save the socio-economic ecosystem from collapse. Civic irresponsibility is widespread in our country, which is one reason why the Government is forced to mull the harshest of options. If we are conscious and disciplined and religiously stick to the laid down norms and precautions, much of the danger could be averted. By now almost all of us know of the dangers and the ways to prevent them, which has also been duly spread and circulated by the Government. If even after this we don’t change our habits and propensities and bend the rules for our convenience, only two things can happen – either we are routed by COVID or by complete lockdown, which the Government will be bound to enforce. In either case, we are in for deep trouble. So, till there is time, we must mend our ways and help the country recover faster. In every country, there is a capacity up to which a pandemic can be tackled effectively, after which the constraints overwhelm. We have seen the same happen in the US last year. In India, given its huge population and vulnerability, the task is all the more difficult unless there is public effort and cooperation to help the Government.

 

A Government is nothing but we people and it is ultimately our approach and way of thought that can bring about the necessary changes we crave. Rules are only as effective as they are followed by the people. If rules are violated, then either there is no rule and things go haywire or there are Draconian injunctions that restrict us beyond comfort. The choice is ours. It is easy to point fingers at the administration or the Government for not doing this or that but commonsense says, no Government can be a do-all entity or a one-stop solution for all problems. A social system runs in a collaborative effort. No Government can scale up infrastructure and logistics to such an extent that it can keep pace with the unprecedented surge of COVID in varied pockets in different waves of intensity. No country can do that as COVID has challenged the whole medical universe. COVID didn’t give us time to do much and facilities are bound to be trounced. The whole world faced such setbacks but they recovered largely because people did the right things. We need to learn a thing or two from them, as to how they enforced the needed discipline among themselves to stem the spread and break the chain, the essentials in ending the pandemic. In such a situation, people naturally obviate the need for any Government clampdown.

 

The Governments in those countries also get the necessary space to divert their focus on other priority areas like vaccination etc. Time is a crucial factor here. If only we can bide time and wait indoors for another couple of months, things can be just fine. The vaccination drive is picking up pace and sooner than later, the Government will open vaccination to the larger populace. In a matter of months, as more and more people get vexed, the crisis will abate. By the way, the Government is doing its best not to introduce complete closure and thus keep the economy alive. But extreme situations call for extreme measures and by our understanding and discipline, we can do our bit to keep things under control.