Weekend curfew may not break virus chain, but will send a message

Punjab and Haryana have turned down the UT administration’s proposal to impose a weekend curfew in the tricity from Friday 7pm to Monday 6 am, scuttling its plans to put stricter measures in place to control the spread of Covid-19.

UT Adviser Manoj Parida talks to Hindustan Times regarding the rationale behind the proposal and strategies going forward

What made the UT propose a drastic step like a weekend curfew?

For four months we have been successful in containing the spread of the disease in the city. But with borders opening and inter-state travel now allowed, there was sudden spike in cases. A majority of new cases are coming from people with travel history and their contacts. This has been indicated by contact and source tracing. We have stopped bus operations but other modes of transport are open.

While you are attributing the recent spike to open borders, a weekend curfew will only put restrictions on locals. What can be achieved by imposing it?

A weekend curfew cannot break the chain. It will convey a message of awareness to people. With lockdown restrictions eased, people somehow think that they can go back to normal, celebrate, and they can gather in large numbers. It (weekend curfew) is just to remind them that the battle is not over. On weekends we can effectively implement (rules) as government offices and markets are closed.

Does it mean that the administration has failed to strictly enforce social distancing norms and that there has been poor monitoring of those coming from other places?

The administration has not failed. We cannot post a policeman outside every house to enforce social distancing and wear masks. We are making surprise inspections, challaning people and running awareness campaigns. But, it is the failure of the people, families and social leaders like resident welfare associations. In an educated city, a sense of responsibility is expected from residents.

With Punjab and Haryana saying no to a weekend curfew, what’s the administration’s strategy now?

The administration will take the advice of medical experts and decide on Chandigarh going it alone in imposing the curfew. A final decision will be taken at Wednesday’s war room meeting.

Why don’t you go in for a Sunday curfew like Punjab?

Chandigarh will take its own decision, and a decision has to be a two-day curfew. There is no question of diluting it to one day. We will not take a token step.

Is there any plan to restrict public dealing also in offices such as registering and licence authorities?

We have introduced online system for appointments, and for grievance redressal. People have to register their vehicles and their properties. We cannot stop that. These were stalled for several months, we need to bring some normalcy in these affairs.

The administration has come under criticism for the level of testing being undertaken in the city. Why is it shying away from vigorous testing?

Chandigarh’s testing rate per day is more than double that of stipulated by the World Health Organisation. For instance, yesterday, there were 600 odd tests. We are screening the entire city for the second time now.