- Undergoing the successive novel coronavirus waves induced hardships over the last two years have opened up countries to evolve their strategies largely based on the unfolding situations. If the first Covid wave marked uncertainty owing to the invisible enemy stalking humanity, the second wave was characterized by adequate preparedness having learned lessons from earlier experience. And now the third Covid wave has further allowed the countries to come out with even more evolved strategies, including India. No longer the blunt instruments like national lockdowns define the strategies.
PC: Dr. c. Hemavathi
- Decentralized approach and emphasis on micro containment zones are the buzzwords that have yielded handsome results vis-à-vis minimal restrictions on economic activities. As you are aware, the hospitality sector – especially restaurants and small eateries – is one of the most badly affected sectors owing to the virus-induced restrictions severely denting their business opportunities. When things appeared to finally look up for millions of such establishments, weekend curfews/restrictions imposed by various Indian state governments had a debilitating effect on their very survival.
- It simply makes no sense when such establishments are allowed to function during the week, but restrictions are imposed come weekend. Mind you, some of the Karnataka restaurant associations threatened to defy government restrictions by opening up during weekends. Consequently, the authorities were forced to lift those unyielding restrictions. Last week happened to be the first weekend this year where many cities saw a semblance of normalcy return. Unlike earlier occasions, states this time have not let weekend restrictions linger even though daily new infections average around 2.5 lakh. Needless to mention, it spells relief for India’s beleaguered contact-intensive businesses like eateries.
PC: Jahnavi R
- The National Restaurant Association of India last year estimated that the pandemic-induced lockdowns had put around 25% of restaurants out of business, leading to the retrenchment of a mind-boggling 2.4 million employees. In hindsight, the scale of the damage was surely avoidable saving millions of jobs that are extremely hard to find under the circumstances. To its credit, states during the Omicron wave have raised their game by linking mobility restrictions to the extent of stress on the healthcare infrastructure. A milder virus has ensured a lesser number of people getting admitted to hospitals thereby not stressing the healthcare infrastructure like the devastating Delta wave. Going forward, this should be the primary metric to guide decisions. Another approach that needs to be avoided is differentiating between essential and other activities to decide on shutdowns.
- Every activity generates jobs and arbitrary demarcations undermine livelihoods as the average Indian business is small-sized making it impossible for most to survive prolonged shutdowns. Moreover, India’s hospitality sector is an important source of employment for low-skilled and unskilled youth. Most of them pick up skills on the job which then provides a pathway to upward mobility. Thus, large-scale closures like those of restaurants have long-term consequences in India’s job market. As such, governments should avoid any kind of closure based on the incidence of infection and just focus on keeping healthcare infrastructure prepared. This approach will have a positive spin-off on economic activity and jobs.
