Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a ‘people’s curfew’ on March 22 as “the need of the hour to break the spread of COVID-19”, Delhiites said that the move would also help people understand the importance of social distancing.
Nitin Sharma, an information security officer at AKS IT Services, said he has suspended his Sunday routine of badminton after the curfew call, but is struggling to make his grandparents understand the urgency to follow the self-imposed curfew.
“My grandparents are continuing with their morning walks believing that the outbreak is a joke. I am able to restrict them up to a limit but this Sunday I am making sure that they strictly follow the curfew rules,” he said.
Many are using social media to spread awareness about the nationwide call and have taken steps such as granting leaves to domestic help, drivers and personal helpers on Sunday.
Female technical officer at AIIMS Saroj Singh felt that the PM’s decision was the right way to tackle the situation. “The curfew cannot be a compulsion as healthcare workers like me need to get to work, but it is our duty to be alert and educate people about this required step of social distancing. It will certainly help in bringing down the multi-folding spreading of the infection,” she said.
Future course
The 14-hour curfew is also being perceived as a preparation step towards a supposedly forthcoming lockdown of the city, and might help in anticipating the public response towards a shutdown of their routine lives.
Delhi-based photographer Shubham Saini, who has called off his birthday celebrations on Sunday, said that the one-day optional curfew would be of no use if there are no plans to impose a complete lockdown in the near future.
Pointing out a flaw in choosing the weekend to impose the curfew rather than a workday, senior manager at Future Generali Insurance Company Shoeb Anjum said that few people will venture out on March 22 anyway as it is a holiday.
“The PM should have chosen another day,” he added.
