Time to unlock restrictions so that economy revives: ATTOI President

Lock-down restrictions should be lifted in places relatively unaffected by the coronavirus so that India’s economy revives, ATTOI President Vinod CS said on Tuesday.

“After May 3, complete shutdown may not be possible. We have to locate the hotspots and isolate those areas. Rest of the places should be allowed to function as usual,” he said, concerned about how the various industries across the country are facing a huge setback.

He felt that the focus should be on preventing community transmission in affected areas. The affected and relatively unaffected areas have to be demarcated while maintaining access control.

“Complete lockdown has been a brave decision. This has brought us good results and spread of the virus has been controlled by social distancing. At the same time, our economy is in tatters. In those countries that did not go for complete lockdown, the economy hasn’t been badly hit. But India has so many poor people. It has created a big issue for them,” Vinod said.

“Now it’s time to relax the restrictions. It’s clear that the virus will be around for some time. Now we have to continue with social distancing and make people aware at the grass root level about maintaining hygiene. We have to put together a protocol and make people aware of it. That should be the way forward,” the ATTOI President added.