Covid-19: Anand Mahindra says extended lockdown will have damaging psychological impact on people
‘The numbers will continue to rise and the focus must be on rapid expansion of field hospital beds with oxygen lines,’ the businessman said.
by Scroll StaffMahindra Group Chairperson Anand Mahindra on Monday once again warned that extending the nationwide lockdown would prove disastrous for the Indian economy and have a serious psychological impact on the people. The lockdown was imposed on March 25 to combat the spread of the coronavirus, and has since been extended thrice – the latest till May 31.
“Lockdown extensions aren’t just economically disastrous, as I had tweeted earlier, but also create another medical crisis,” Mahindra tweeted sharing an article that appeared in Forbes Magazine. “This article highlights the dangerous psychological effects of lockdowns & the huge risk of neglecting non-covid patients.”
Sharing another article which described Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as saying that he cannot assure people that the lockdown in the state will be over on May 31, Mahindra added: “The choices aren’t easy for policy makers but a lockdown extension won’t help. The numbers will continue to rise and the focus must be on rapid expansion of field hospital beds with oxygen lines. The army has enormous expertise in this.”
In the past too, Mahindra has been critical of the Centre’s decisions to extend the lockdown. Earlier this month, he said that if the lockdown is continued after May 17, it could lead to “economic harakiri”, the Hindustan Times reported. Mahindra added that India should not expect a swift flattening of the curve, as the number of cases will continue to increase with the rise in the number of tests.
India has so far reported 1,38,845 cases of Covid-19, including 4,021 deaths, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.