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Medicine

India Under Lockdown for 21 Days To Fight Coronavirus (reuters.com) 62

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday the government would impose a nationwide lockdown from midnight for 21 days to stem the spread of the coronavirus. "There will be a total ban on venturing out of your homes," Modi said in a televised address.
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India Under Lockdown for 21 Days To Fight Coronavirus More

India Under Lockdown for 21 Days To Fight Coronavirus

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  • Where to the homeless go? (Score:3)

    by mschaffer ( 97223 ) on Tuesday March 24, 2020 @10:53AM (#59866870)

    "There will be a total ban on venturing out of your homes,"

    So where do the millions of homeless go?

  • Cannot venture out of homes (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 24, 2020 @11:01AM (#59866924)

    "There will be a total ban on venturing out of your homes,"

    Even to shit?

    • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      This story is about India, not Alabama, buddy.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        He knows, that's why he said that. Many Indians shit in their streets and waterways. It's a major problem in India.

        I know you want to be a reality denier, like your fellow untravelled, sheltered, first-world SJWs, but the world doesn't work the way you think it does, little boy.

        • There's a 2017 Indian movie called Toilet: A Love Story that addresses the issue. It's a surprisingly good movie.
    • >> Even to shit?

      No, remote coding and committing will still be allowed. Documentation and project plans too, I would imagine.

  • Doesn't seem to be any details (Score:3)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Tuesday March 24, 2020 @11:01AM (#59866926)
    he literally got on TV and said "You're all going into lockdown, that will be all".

    No discussion of how to get food or who will be exempt. This is going to be a cluster fuck of epic proportions, what the hell was he thinking?

    Also, nearly all major customer service jobs and massive numbers of IT jobs are done in India now. I can't even imagine the mess this is going to create. And it's unlikely to last long enough that businesses will be willing to repatriate those jobs back to their home countries.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Seems like he is panicking. Doesn't know what to do or say so comes out with "lockdown" and hopes someone else can figure out how to make it work.

      He's got a big population to protect and the government in India isn't nearly as effective as the one in China so it could potentially be very very bad.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by EvilSS ( 557649 )

      Also, nearly all major customer service jobs and massive numbers of IT jobs are done in India now. I can't even imagine the mess this is going to create. And it's unlikely to last long enough that businesses will be willing to repatriate those jobs back to their home countries.

      Oh man didn't think of that. That could be interesting if those get closed down (I doubt they will) . I'd grab some popcorn but the store is all sold out.

      • Oh they will, it's clear India is going all in to hell with any economic considerations. Only option really, I'm guessing India would rather have a bit of a nuclear tit for tat with Pakistan than try to just take this epidemic as it comes.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by geekoid ( 135745 )

          "it's clear India is going all in to hell with any economic considerations."
          You should probable tell foreign affairs people. Your internet arm chair bullshit clearly knows more then experts.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jma05 ( 897351 )

        From what I heard, companies like Amazon are having their Indian workers work from home and have shuttles to ferry them.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ranton ( 36917 )

        That could be interesting if those get closed down (I doubt they will).

        I don't know how good the home Internet is for most knowledge workers in India, but when my employees travel back home to India they almost always have very little access to the Internet while visiting family (at least that is what they tell me). If this is the case, I would assume most of these service jobs would be significantly impacted by lock downs in India. I am working from home now and not significantly impacted by using my home office (other than kids not being in school / daycare) but if I didn't have solid home Internet I would be dead in the water.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by EvilSS ( 557649 )
          Working a call center from home is possible, but it takes some effort to get everything setup. If this wasn't planned for in advance, there would be quite a bit of scrambling. If they needed hardware to do it, then a whole lot of praying as well. Lead times are getting farther and farther out due to the China shutdown and increased demand everywhere for places spinning up work from home. Plus it's not just the technical but the security and client contract sides to deal with.

    • how to get food

      Considering how many people below the poverty line that live (earn) day to day - stocking up on 3 weeks worth of food is not possible. Unfortunately this lockdown will affect the poorest the most.

      • how to get food

        Considering how many people below the poverty line that live (earn) day to day - stocking up on 3 weeks worth of food is not possible. Unfortunately this lockdown will affect the poorest the most.

        These are the essential services that will be operational:
        Water
        Electricity
        Health services
        Fire services
        Groceries
        Municipal services.

        • If you can't earn money, you can't buy groceries.

          • Yes, the poor are screwed. Because they have no savings. Not because they need to stock up for three weeks. Hopefully the government will work something out for them. It's the same in lots of countries.

            • Also you need to leave your home to buy stuff. If you get arrested for going outside you can't buy groceries even if the stores are open which they may not be despite what the government says.

              • India is under lockdown [news18.com]

                Exceptions: e. Delivery of all essential goods including food, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment through E-commerce.

                You can get it delivered.
                I don't think even Indian bureaucracy would be foolish enough to have the shops open but then ban you from going to them, that's just silly. People will be allowed to shop. Common sense.

                • Didn't know about the free delivery. Thank Kali it's free because otherwise it would only affect rich Indians which is a small percentage of the population.

    • Re:Doesn't seem to be any details (Score:4, Informative)

      by Admiral Krunch ( 6177530 ) on Tuesday March 24, 2020 @11:34AM (#59867044)

      he literally got on TV and said "You're all going into lockdown, that will be all".

      He didn't say just that

      "I request you to remain wherever you are in this country. In view of the current situation, the lockdown shall be enforced for 21 days, which means the next 21 days are crucial for us,” Modi continued.

      These are the essential services that will be operational:
      Water
      Electricity
      Health services
      Fire services
      Groceries
      Municipal services.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by luttapi ( 312138 )
      Details already published: https://twitter.com/ANI/status... [twitter.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by c ( 8461 )

      No discussion of how to get food or who will be exempt. This is going to be a cluster fuck of epic proportions, what the hell was he thinking?

      We're talking about a country which has only recently
      put effort into tackling the problem of people shitting in the streets [cnn.com]. There's basically zero chance that this isn't going to spread far and wide (and probably already has, in spite a low published number of detected cases). He's literally doing the best that he can, which is telling the people who'll listen to loc

      • This is the same Modi that changed the currency, causing chaos for months, shutting down businesses, people lost their savings and all for very little gain.

        Some Hindus love him because he is hostile to Muslims. Certainly he seems to be corruption free, which is rare for an Indian politician.

        But do not expect considered policy from him. Any more than from the current US president.

    • Guidelines are definitely needed. I heard one person from work was stopped by police as he was trying to get equipment from work to take hom, and was told he needed a letter. So this seems more heavy handed than many other countries, with a lot of confusion, and at least some loopholes for essential activities. The Indians I heard talking on the phone all seemed quite stressed and distracted.

      I suspect an update is forthcoming with guidelines for exceptions for leaving the home will be provided.

      Wasn't tha

      • More details here [news18.com]

        Exceptions:

        a. Shops, including ration shops (under PDS), dealing with food, groceries, fruits and vegetables, dairy and milk booths, meat and fish, animal fodder. However, district authorities may encourage and facilitate home delivery to minimize the movement of individuals outside their homes.
        --snip--
        e. Delivery of all essential goods including food, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment through E-commerce.

        Plenty more details here [twitter.com]

    • >> You're all going into lockdown

      No, there seems to be a long list of exemptions that will keep hundreds of millions of people in motion (unfortunately, like other countries):
      From TFA (https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1242476674710560770), the exceptions include all food shops, banks, insurance companies, media, IT, gas, storage, hotels, etc. Education, worship, "political gathering" and other groups have been banned, but funerals for up to 20 people are allowed. Etc.

      As annoyed as I am about a governme

    • Well, I certainly get less telephone spammers calling now that I did before SARS-nCoV-2 started spreading, so as far as I can tell, this is a good thing.

      Though why anyone would want to save that sort is beyond me. I say let those ones continue to go into the call center. We can then use thermal imaging to know where to drop the bombs.

  • Lockdowns are the perfect solution (Score:5, Insightful)

    by WoodstockJeff ( 568111 ) on Tuesday March 24, 2020 @11:19AM (#59866996) Homepage

    If people die in spite of them, it was because "local officials did not enforce it enough."

    If people survive in spite of them, it was because "we moved quickly, so don't argue next time we impose one."

    If people are found dead in their homes because they obeyed and didn't go out to get food, it's because "we need to improve our social welfare system, so don't complain when we boost your taxes."

    A friend in the Philippines is up against this sort of thing. Places to buy food are on the OTHER SIDE of the checkpoint you can't pass through without a pass. The place where you can apply for a pass is on the OTHER SIDE of the checkpoint you can't pass through without a pass. The ATM you have to visit to get money to pay for things like food, passes, and bribes is on the OTHER SIDE of the checkpoint you can't get through without a pass.

    Not to mention the electricity needed to refrigerate fresh foods is intermittent at best. At least their well has a hand pump.

  • Have you been to a large city in India? I spent time in a number of them and uh, I just don't see that happening. People have a hard time following traffic laws there, it's chaos. That was my experience in the south anyway, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, anyway.

  • Timely (Score:5, Informative)

    by vu2tve ( 6415884 ) on Tuesday March 24, 2020 @12:13PM (#59867228)
    Speaking as an Indian, I am nomally not a fan of our PM, However, so far, the steps he has taken have been correct and timely. I am residing in a semi-rural district in North India, and it is REALLY strange to see the police actually do their job. They are going door to door, even to houses in the middle of large fields, tracking down every single person with any travel history, domestic or international. Our healthcare systems are nowhere near the west both in standards and capacity, so if widespread community transmission happens, we're fucked. So it is best to act pre-emptively, excessively. I for one, applaud this decision, and reserve my hatred for Modi for another day.
    • Are these police going door-to-door in such a way that they are not prolific virus vectors?

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by jma05 ( 897351 )

      Timely would not be the word to describe any of India's response.

      The testing was criminally lacking, by a factor of almost 5000 compared to South Korea, the leader, leading to misleadingly low documented cases.

      Until recently, the response was mostly head in sand. The government's official quackery department (India is probably the only country that officially promotes all manner of quackeries) recklessly promoted fake science. The response can only be categorized as denial - oh, we won't get it because we h

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by khchung ( 462899 )

      I applaud the India government for this. In 3 months' time, the number will show very starkly how many people this has saved by just looking at the death tolls in the rest of the world.

      Europe and the US should have locked down on 1 March, then now we would be seeing new cases coming down and then everyone can help mop up in Africa and other poorer countries. Instead, we have all the rich countries scrambling around leaving the poor countries to try to fend for themselves.

      • How about if China takes care of the poor countries then? You know, since it was China, not the EU, not the US, that created all this mess we are in.

  • No Robocalls for 3 weeks, YAY!!!! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by vfxman ( 6713840 ) on Tuesday March 24, 2020 @12:25PM (#59867282)
    No fake Microsoft support calls, no IRS agents coming to put me in jail. No virus cleaners for $400.00. Life is good!!
  • Keeping a billion people indoors. India is not china and the culture in India is not one of state control like china is.
    • Most of the 1B are already connected and can see in youtube what is happening in Italy. No one needs to force you. Most ppl will stay indoors as much they can as they see that is the only solution left to stop the spread.
  • Indians are practicing Untouchability for 2700 years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
    #SocialDistancing is not different/difficult http://archive.vn/bEMTt [archive.vn]

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