What will happen post-21-day COVID-19 lockdown?

Extension? Bounce back of economy? Should we learn from China?

Can you see into the future on the day 22nd – Once the lockdown lifts in India?

Are you with me in painting this scenario where we see

• Traffic jams back in all metro cities
• Over-crowded trains in Mumbai – social distancing is forgotten
• Nobody doing the housework because all house staff is back
• Restaurants are flooded
• Home deliveries start with a bang
• People forget to wear masks and use sanitizers
• Health workers too tired from working 24/7 for three months and go on leaves
• Same happens with the police force working round the clock 
• Factories struggling to start the production as their supply chain is still not functional fully
• The private sector starts working overtime to make up for the lost 21 days
• WFH becomes a history! (actually, managers don’t really have confidence that the employees will be able to work from home since Indian homes are smaller, there are too many distractions and disturbances)

Yes, life will come back to normal pretty fast, since we, Indians are very resilient people! We have demonstrated our resilience during the Mumbai terrorist attacks in the past.

But should we really show our resilience now and in that process forget about the precautions that still remain important? The world will still be facing the pandemic and nobody can assure us that a 21-day lockdown will be enough to take care of the COVID-19.

We can not overlook the report that just came out that one of the Chinese counties has gone into lockdown again due to fear of the second wave of COVID-19 cases

So we need to stay positive, start our work once the 21-day lockdown is lifted, but also keep maintaining social distancing, hand-washing and taking good care of ourselves, the elders and kids in the family and our neighbourhood.

Stay safe, Stay positive, Stay together (virtually!)