Effects of prolonged lockdown
The current situation has forced more than two-thirds of the world to shut down their normal functioning and is forcing more and more people to stay confined within their homes and pursue work from there. As the pandemic is yet to be controlled and may stretch on indefinitely, here are some of the major changes that will affect us:
Health
The health of the population will be compromised as there will be lesser opportunities to get out of their homes. People will be facing a shortage of supply in nutritious food items either due to lack of production, lack of transport, or lack of income. As people stay passive for long periods of time, food intake drastically increasing while sitting at home. If these conditions prevail for long, obesity, unfitness and other diseases related to these conditions will show a steep rise. It has already been reported that around 67% of the population has experienced a disruption in sleep patterns.
Another very important factor will be the treatment of people suffering from ailments other than the COVID 19 infection. As more and more medical facilities are being cleared up for the treatment of the patients of the pandemic, people suffering from chronic diseases who require frequent medical attention, or those who are already bedridden and admitted in hospitals will face severe difficulties. The pandemic poses huge stress on the healthcare facilities of the nation, and the Indian health care system, which was already overloaded. The nations will face a rise in the number of deaths due to other illnesses along with those caused due to corona.
Another aspect of health is mental health, which is also heavily affected by the measures of prevention of the spread of the disease. Human beings are social animals and their bodies respond positively to human contact and negatively to isolation. Isolation, that is being deprived of the ability to stay around people and of physical touch, has deep effects on people’s mental well-being. It has already been reported that mental health issues are on a rise.
Effect on the economy
The economy is yet another major factor that is going to face a heavy backlash during this period. Even though most places are putting heavy emphasis on the concept of work from home, most of the commercial activities, like production and marketing, are nearly halted altogether.
Even for the people whose jobs couldn’t be transferred to the online mode, a lot of problems are to be faced. Most people weren’t prepared to shift their work online on such short notice, and hence the lack of hardware and software poses issues. Along with that, all services involving repair of hardware have stopped entirely, adding up another major hurdle to the path.
With most commercial services being disrupted, a lot of people are left without any means to earn an income. This largely consists of daily wage workers and people from the financially weaker sections of the society. This is going to push a large section of the population towards starvation unless the government is able to do something about it. With the transport of goods having been limited, a lot of the product is under the threat of being wasted because of not being able to reach the masses.
After the lockdown is over, it will take the economy a lot of time to rebuild itself. The time that has been estimated, depending upon the time we have to spend under lockdown, is from 10 months to several years.
Education
The education sector is also going to be heavily affected. In several states, the government has already instructed secondary schools to start online classes to prevent the academic session from delaying too much.
However, there are various problems that the first-timers are going to face. Some of the faculty at educational institutions are maybe new to the online mode of imparting education and will have to face a lot of hurdles just to get comfortable with the medium. Some of the students, who either live in remote locations or don’t have the equipment of financial disclosure may face a lot of challenges while trying to cope up with this. Since the virus hit most places during the exams, like board examinations or competitive entrance exams, the exams have ended up being delayed and there are still doubts as to how those issues will be resolved.
Effect on the lesser thought about population
The unavailability of intoxicating substances like alcohol and tobacco during the lockdown makes the lockdown harder to bear for people addicted to these. This might prompt them towards crime- it has been reported that a lot of the people that are caught roaming around by the police fall under this category. A lot of robberies of tobacco and scandals involving the sale of spurious liquor have also been reported. While the rate of crime on roads has reduced, domestic violence and e-crimes are facing a rise.
The lockdown has been one of the biggest sudden changes to have affected such a large population. It has made us question the things we so far took for granted and taught us the value of the functionality of our daily lives. It is important that we come together in this hour of need and join hands to combat this deadly peril.
-Rishita
(Dayatva Team Member)
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