e-Dialogues | Living With Virus
Physical distancing, not social distancing, key to living with virus
T
he third instalment in Urban Update’s webinar series of e-Dialogues focused on deliberating a suitable path forward for cities. After an extensive period of the lockdown, which effectively shutdown movement of people as well as many businesses, now the government is moving forth with relaxing norms. These relaxations will ultimately lead to a complete lift and resumption of life as we knew it before Corona. As we reopen cities, positive cases, and casualties, continue to rise. Given this extremely difficult situation, Urban Update invited Dr Rakesh Yadav, Professor, AIIMS-Delhi; Umamaheshwaran Rajasekar, Chair, Urban Resilience at National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), to discuss the path forward with Ashok Wankhede, Managing Editor, Urban Update and Abhishek Pandey, Editor, Urban Update. Kumar Dhananjay, Consulting Editor, Urban Update, moderated the session. Introducing the relevance of the issue to the audience, Dhananjay said that at present we are confronted with multiple questions as we move forth: how many more renditions of the lockdown can we further bear? How do we deal with the severe economic consequences that we are likely to face? “Is it time to face the fact that life will go on with the virus, as no hope for a solution to this issue is apparently visible. When can we resume normal activities?” Dhananjay enquired and invited Ashok Wankhede to give his opening remarks. Wankhede asserted that Corona is here to stay. “After the two month lockdown, cases continue to increase. Now, as we look forward to reopening, we must take adequate
42 June 2020 | www.urbanupdate.in
precautions. Obama said I am lucky to have a great office in my home. “We share the same luxury as the President of the USA for an extended period of time as of now,” he said. Along with working from home, Wankhede said we are set to adopt multiple changes in our lives moving forward. Dr Rakesh Yadav, like the speakers before him, was of the thought that the virus is not going to go away soon, it’ll persist and hence we’ll have to live with it. “Nobody knows much about the virus. Everyday you get a new guideline. Everyday a new estimation is made. Somewhere it is very dangerous, somewhere it is just a flu virus”, Dr Yadav said, describing the uncertainty of the pandemic. He urged people not to panic. “Anxiety has taken over and people are getting more and more scared. This fear is not substantiated by medical research and only propagated by mainstream media.” Further, Dr Yadav expressed that vaccine is the only solution, and the development
of this vaccine at this stage is uncertain. Hence, reopening is a wise step. “Reopen but with caution. A percentage lives in slum, they use common toilet. Educate them about physical distancing, not social distancing,” he said. “As we reopen, we face the challenge of accurately ascertaining corona positive people, as a large percentage of people suffering from the disease are asymptomatic. Thus, reopening will obviously increase cases, but till now the previous two months spent in the lockdown have allowed us to develop infrastructure,” he added. Further, the doctor said that the policy is to live with the virus, and that a complete lockdown was never a solution. Moving forward, medical professional like Dr Yadav recommend using mask, regularly washing hands and avoiding gatherings and large crowds. If you have any symptom, report it to relevant authorities. Umamaheshwaran Rajasekar, in his address, urged people to look at short
“As we reopen, we face the challenge of accurately ascertaining corona positive people, as a large percentage of people suffering from the disease are asymptomatic. Thus, reopening will obviously increase cases, but till now the previous two months spent in the lockdown have allowed us to develop infrastructure,”
