The Great Lockdown in the Wake of COVID-19 and Its Implications: Lessons for Low and Middle-Income Countries.

Sigamani Panneer,Robert Ramesh Babu Pushparaj,Louis Rice,Prasant Kumar Panda,Komali Kantamaneni,Champika Liyanage,Vigneshwaran Subbiah Akkayasamy,Sanghmitra Sheel Acharya,A Xavier Susairaj

doi:10.3390/ijerph19010610

Abstract

Concern for public health has been growing with the increasing volume of cases of COVID-19 in India. To combat this pandemic, India has implemented nationwide lockdowns, and unlocking phases continue with certain restrictions in different parts of the country. The lockdown has required people to adopt social-distance measures to minimize contacts in order to reduce the risks of additional infection. Nevertheless, the lockdown has already impacted economic activities and other dimensions of the health of individuals and society. Although many countries have helped their people through advanced welfare protection networks and numerous support aids, several emerging economies face specific difficulties to adapt to the pandemic due to vulnerable communities and scarce resources. However, certain lower-income countries need more rigorous analysis to implement more effective strategies to combat COVID-19. Accordingly, the current systematic review addresses the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns in India in relation to health and the economy. This work also provides further information on health inequalities, eco-nomic and social disparities in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns and also contributes pragmatic suggestions for overcoming these challenges. These observations will be useful to the relevant local and national officials for improving and adopting novel strategies to face lockdown challenges

Highlights

The World Health Organization (WHO) pronounced COVID-19 as a global pandemic on 11 March 2020 when it reported over 118,000 outbreaks, with more than 4000 fatalities in 114 countries around the world [1]
Though the government imposed the lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19 infections, the limitation of people’s movement caused various health difficulties, including mental health disorders, among those living in India’s cities and rural areas
This article uses India as a case study, as the population of this country, those from marginalized groups, suffered serious physical and economic implications as a result of the lockdown, and they faced limitations in accessing healthcare during the lockdown. Those working in unorganized sectors and migrants who previously relocated to urban areas for their livelihood lost their jobs and income and had to return to their hometowns in various parts of India by whatever transportation they could find, including by foot

Summary

Introduction

The World Health Organization (WHO) pronounced COVID-19 as a global pandemic on 11 March 2020 when it reported over 118,000 outbreaks, with more than 4000 fatalities in 114 countries around the world [1]. COVID-19 has triggered the world’s largest national lockdowns. Global epidemics are not unusual in the history of human civilisation. Since the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the global community has witnessed the impacts of a series of epidemics, such as anthrax in 2001, SARS in 2003, H1N1 in 2009 and Ebola in 2014.

Methods

Results

Conclusion