A whopping 3,36,560 persons have been booked by the police in Kerala for not wearing face masks since the Statewide lockdown began on May 8 to contain the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This has raised questions on the reckless behaviour by at least a section of the public in the face of a persistent danger that has claimed more lives and caused serious infections in the State in its second wave.
R. Suresh Kumar, senior consultant in neurology and behavioural sciences, attributed it partly to people not being inculcated with civic sense and ethical behaviour during their formative years. “We as a society are inherently insensitive to the wellbeing of others. Democratic countries are fiercely free-spirited and tend to violate restrictions even in the face of an unprecedented crisis like the pandemic. When the curbs are eased, they overcompensate for the freedom lost as was witnessed in the slackening of basic protocol like wearing face masks, physical distancing and hand hygiene post the first lockdown,” he said.
Spread word
Dr. Kumar emphasised the need for keeping up the intensity of messaging on the need for adhering to the basic protocol, which, he felt, had dropped from the initial days of the pandemic. “People should realise that responsible behaviour alone can do away with lockdowns affecting their lives and livelihood,” he said.
P.T. Zacharia, State president of the Indian Medical Association, said that though vaccination was an effective tool to fight the pandemic, it was not a substitute for the basic protocol. “Responsible behaviour by the public can only be enforced by the police, which they are doing admirably. Political leaders should also set examples in observing the protocol,” he said.
Effective policing
Additional Director General of Police Vijay Sakhare, who devised the concept of triple lockdown, felt that the general compliance level had improved owing to effective policing. “Non-compliance is mostly borne out of psychological and physiological reasons. People who otherwise comply with the restrictions lower the guard in the company of their friends or dear ones as if that would not spread infections. Then there are people who feel suffocated on wearing masks,” he said.
Mr. Sakhare said that violations of the basic protocol were fined for a deterrent effect while many were let off with a warning.
