How we bungled it, step by step
1. Focused on NamasteTrump event, toppling Govt in MP & pogrom in Delhi when we should have been focused on international travellers. Stringent testing, quarantine & contact-tracing could have stemmed the Pandemic at this stage.
1. Focused on NamasteTrump event, toppling Govt in MP & pogrom in Delhi when we should have been focused on international travellers. Stringent testing, quarantine & contact-tracing could have stemmed the Pandemic at this stage.
2. When some state govts were being seen as far more responsive and agile, a panic-stricken Centre announced an unplanned Lockdown with no thought for tens of millions left without incomes. Result: mass exodus that lasted weeks and months, worsening the situation in every way.
3. Lockdown without any national, concrete plan for aggressive testing, contact-tracing & healthcare scale-up. The Pandemic was manageable even at this stage, with a low number of cases. Instead, all attention went into the 'optics': from pot banging to conch-blowing.
4. As the Pandemic continued to rage even with the most stringent Lockdown in the world that devastated the economy, the govt was caught in a dilemma: how can the Lockdown be lifted if the situation today is far worse than before the Lockdown?
5. The last-stage. With the cases still rising rapidly, the Lockdown is being phased out because the genie is now out of the bottle. And we have ended up with the worst of all words: a devastated economy and an untamed Pandemic. All because of poor decision-making.
