[speedmiester]

Originally Posted by charanreddy

+ 1.

I have a mandatory doctor appointment in the first week of April and have the same concern. What’s the procedure for citizens to avail the said medical services in emergency and non avoidable situations.

Try to get a letter from your doctor. That will help.

My Father-in-law's sister passed away today evening in Mysore. He has to travel to Mysore for the last rites tomorrow.
So we got the death summary from the Hospital and consulted the police station in front of our apartment, they mentioned it should not be a problem, just take our number and call us if you face any issues at any checkpoint.
Hopefully we shouldn't face any issues tomorrow. Alternately we have taken few other numbers of senior officers just in case we face any issues.

[mn2363]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

What do the guidelines say about shopping for essential groceries? I imagine many do not have sufficient stock in their kitchens to last for three weeks. Is it a case-by-case basis depending on the cop you meet?

The guidelines are being implemented as per the local administration's interpretation (or whims in some places? Yesterday even chemists were being harassed by the cops.)

Today only chemists are open. No one except emergency services folk are being allowed outside. Lists with contact details of "approved" vendors for fresh produce & groceries for home deliveries were put up on local government websites. Strangely none of the local shops & departmental stores etc were in the list!

Can't comment on the authenticity of it, but on Twitter way too many local residents were complaining that most numbers were either switched off or going un-answered. Amongst those that did respond, most didn't have stocks or refused to provide a delivery.

Like many others have mentioned here, Amazon Pantry, BigBasket etc are also not operational.

We're good for about 10 days with the dry groceries. Hopefully things would smoothen out over the next few days because I am having to face quite a bit of funny (mixed with passive aggressive) taunts at home - I had avoided the mad rush shopping last week & was planning to get groceries and vegetables on Tuesday morning!

[yamaniac]

Originally Posted by khanmaj

Very courageous move by GOI. There is no other option available for us in India but lockdown. We can not afford community transmission of COVID-19 as we don't have infrastructure to deal with it. There will be massive adverse impact of this lockdown on economy and people will suffer hence I appeal to all let's make this move success full else we will lose everything people and economy. Stay inside, stay safe.

Its already in stage 3 once the Number crosses 200 (Stage 2) we are already in a community spread. Not Trying to spread fear. But the way people are moving around. Absolute lack of safety, Its just another day for them.

People are so lax, No masks, no Sanitizer, No gloves.. WHAT? There is a pandemic People.

Plus the forwards from whatsapp to take on the counter antibiotics, drink tea with tulsi etc etc. Aunties and Uncles in whatsapp groups forwarding bro science. (Wish whatsapp was banned too for 21 days)

With a Population of 1.3 Billion a 3 percent of it is a huge chunk of the pie. The PM also referred to it, "As good as a WW2". So you get the gist.

The numbers that may crop up in the coming week, will make China and Italy's toll look like a piece of cake. (hope I am wrong)

[Vipin Kumar]

Originally Posted by yamaniac

With a Population of 1.3 Billion a 3 percent of it is a huge chunk of the pie. The PM also referred to it, "As good as a WW2". So you get the gist.

The numbers that may crop up in the coming week, will make China and Italy's toll look like a piece of cake. (hope I am wrong)

Italy was giving a little hope for the last two days with a decline in both new cases and deaths reported, but today the scene is different again, with nearly 740 deaths in a single day, marking its second worst day. Their health council had anyway claimed that a trend reversal is expected only by this month end. Hope there is a remarkable decline in the numbers tomorrow.

What also gives hope is the relaxation in the conditions of shutdown in Hubei in China yesterday. After two months of shutdown, the province is a little open, we hear.

China, even in Wuhan, is reporting only imported cases now. No more instances of local community spread.

However, China's numbers are state-released, but WHO seems to be going by that.

Hope India does not enter stage 3 etc, with a complete stoppage of flights, trains and other public transport and mass shopping places. We are still in a stage where foreign-travel history and interactions are the reasons. See two cases reported today in two places: one was a taxi driver in Cochin who carried a foreign traveler who had tested positive, the other was a doctor who treated Coronavirus patients.

Somehow, there are instances of very densely populated countries having less number of Covid 19 cases, such as the ones in South East Asia. May be, they took more time to have the first cases, and the number might increase gradually.

[TheCatalyst]

In these pressing times, I do appreciate the measures taken by our government. At least better than doing nothing like some other countries. However I don't believe we would get rid of the virus by doing this, which is what is being propagated in the social media. This will only slow the spread, until the necessary infra is upgraded and prevent the medical facilities from getting overwhelmed. This will also buy us time for any possible vaccine development in the market.

Having said that, I would have preferred social distancing rather than a complete lock down. In a lock down, even if 1% of the people do not follow the rules, the entire exercise does more harm than good. Social distancing (strict measures which already described in this thread earlier) could have been done for a much longer period of time, achieving similar results, but with the economy operating at less than 100% of the throughput. I cant help but think the economy as an engine (or a flight), which when slowed down too much, would stall entirely. The ripple effects could go as long as a decade and spread across secondary sectors in due time. Most of the news we are exposed too only covers the measures in the urban and semi-urban parts of India. We have a large rural sector with totally unorganized environments. I wonder what is happening there and what those people are going through?

Also on another note, I am sure a lot of people have already had this virus and have been asymptomatic or had mild flu-like symptoms and have gone totally undetected. We are the densest country after all.

I also wish such seriousness was shown towards other diseases by the government, like Tuberculosis for example. My sister is in pharma research and I know for a fact that TB in India is a ticking time bomb as there are resistant strains due to antibiotic misuse. Only difference is it is more prevalent in poorer sections of the society, however it may not be in future.

Anyway for the time being, I'll do my part and stay indoors. I just hope that the essential services continue to work for the next 21 days and no one has to suffer due to mistakes of a few.

[Chai]

I feel people are misunderstanding the term curfew here, earlier curfew situations were because of law and order due to which people were allowed to buy essentials at specific times but the same cannot be applied here as it defeats the whole purpose of social distancing. If the people in the business of selling daily regular needs are scared then this might force many to shut down and thereby forcing people to rush to specific establishments at a particular time and thereby causing grouping of people and the whole objective of this exercise is failed.

Ask local police stations to issue passes only to those running shops and ask them to be available an hour before and leave an hour later (from 8 AM to 6 PM) and let people know that shops will be available from 9 to 5 for purchasing only daily needs and avoid crowding at shops. This will give them confidence that they can but throughout the day at their convenience and if not today tomorrow thereby avoiding anxiety among people.

[Thad E Ginathom]

It is quite worrying that, for instance, Big Basket, having been in negotiation with state authorities, hopes to be delivering again soon in an number of cities, but seems to have made no progress in a number of others.

Plainly, in different states, they are talking to different people, but (perhaps with the help of central government?) there should be some consistency here.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

It is quite worrying that, for instance, Big Basket, having been in negotiation with state authorities, hopes to be delivering again soon in an number of cities, but seems to have made no progress in a number of others.

Plainly, in different states, they are talking to different people, but (perhaps with the help of central government?) there should be some consistency here.

Actually this is a big problem. Delivery guys are scared. They have been caned and badly beaten. CEO of bigbasket gave an interview to NDTV and requested police not to beat up his delivery boys. He said "If they run away, there will be nobody to deliver essentials to people". Delivery boys from big companies wear uniforms and can atleast be identified, but there are smaller grocery stores who have rotting produce in their stock because the delivery boys are scared to deliver. Situation though is much better in South India. In non metro north India cities in Punjab there is lot of caning going on. And I personally find it horrifying that people online are cheering on videos of policemen caning people.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

I don't see guidance for common Joe public. How do we venture out (for genuine reasons only) without risking a beating or getting arrested/booked on the on-duty officer's whim?

There's always that risk of being beaten up by the police for appearing on the streets. So, unless the errand is very very important and immediate, one should stay home.

Orders issued at the top do not percolate down with sufficient clarity, making each enforcer of law a law onto himself. The state police chief, for example, has allowed 24/7 opening of grocery stores and supermarkets (Source: Inshorts feed).



However, a few districts have come up with time slots for shopping, just like they do at times of law & order curfews.

Basically, it all boils down to the cop with the cane who spots you on the road.

Tough times.

[msdivy]

There are reports that trucks are stranded at check posts, highways. Police have blocked the entry and in some cases drivers have abandon the trucks and returned home.

21 day lockdown for general public is fine. I hope Govt has plan for enabling smooth movement of essential goods, which can be across towns, cities, states.

Link: https://wap.business-standard.com/ar...2401729_1.html

[m8002?]

https://news.rediff.com/commentary/2...35fdca7cc5efc5


Probably the first steps. But as long as local police take the law into their own hands...wouldnt make a difference

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by m8002?

https://news.rediff.com/commentary/2...35fdca7cc5efc5

Emergency vehicles were always free, Private cars and buses are already off the road. Not sure how many truckers are actually on the road given the closure of factories/ businesses.

This concession appears to benefit the toll operators, in my opinion. They have Zero income, and now with Government taking over Toll collections, it will be the responsibility of the gov to absorb the losses. It's as per my understanding unless the Government reimburses to the extent of actual traffic.

[efgritesh]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I personally find it horrifying that people online are cheering on videos of policemen caning people.

With less public on the road and anonymity of masks lower rank of police officials are doing what they always wanted to do. I feel sad looking at those videos , it can be any of us someday, even the retired police personals may be.

I am not saying that social distancing is not required, but to methods to implement it should be identified instead of making it a police state similar to countries like China.

[pankajn1702]

Originally Posted by yamaniac

Plus the forwards from whatsapp to take on the counter antibiotics, drink tea with tulsi etc etc. Aunties and Uncles in whatsapp groups forwarding bro science. (Wish whatsapp was banned too for 21 days)

+1 to this. I was getting so annoyed by all the Jokes and sciences behind Corona virus on Whatsapp, that I uninstalled the app.
Its been day 2 today. No whatsapp, FB or Insta in my phone, at least for few days to begin with. I have restricted myself only to follow Govt handles on Twitter to get updates from National and Local authorities on directives.

[ramzsys]

Trump, Bolsonaro are all hell bent on restoring normalcy ASAP, Coronavirus or otherwise. India chose lives over economy.

Open it, lives at stake. Shut it down, livelihoods at stake: riots, attacking police, etc.

I am not sure what is the right way. Either way there's pain.