Will the 36-hour curfew actually help check the spread of the pandemic? Yes, say medical professionals.
According to V. Ravi, senior professor and head of neurovirology at NIMHANS, lack of exposure, even if it is just for one day, helps in checking the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
“Generally, people venture out during weekends, especially on Sundays. With the curfew in place, people will have to stay indoors. This will indeed help and may even reduce the number of cases within 10 days,” he said.
Concurring, city-based immunologist and cancer specialist U.S. Vishal Rao said that there usually is an increase in the number of social activities during the weekends.
He pointed out that study of spread of the virus in Wuhan, China, and South Korea had shown that social gatherings on holidays and weekends had triggered the spike in the number of cases.
“These were even called Super Spread Events. The curfew is to create awareness among citizens that the lockdown has been eased for economic activities and not for social and entertainment purposes,” he said.
