With the rise of the Covid-19 virus throughout the world, more and more countries are implementing soft or hard lockdown measures. Whether you’re working from home, using a curfew or can’t go out at all without the proper documentation, countries all over the world are trying their best to communicate guidelines to their citizens to prevent the corona spread.
One of the countries that hasn’t been getting hit pretty hard by the coronavirus is India. They are only currently at about 1,600 confirmed cases and 45 deaths. They were one of the later countries to be in contact with the virus, but the government hasn’t waited long to take action and try to prevent the spread further. They are currently in a three week lockdown for all its 1,3 billion citizens. I guess nobody wants to be the next Italy or Spain at this point.
But since everyone is only asked to stay inside, you can imagine that not everyone is keen on following the guidelines. Sadly, some people don’t quite seem to understand the implications of a lockdown and how serious the situation has to be for a government to implement this. An overzealous police officer however, figured he would scare people into staying inside to further prevent the spread of the virus. He crafted himself a mask that has been modeled after the actual coronavirus, and is actively stopping people that are going outside for non-essential travel. Using his mask, he’s showing people that the threat is very serious and staying inside as much as possible is important.
The Indian government has already provided loads of warnings all over the country and even already broadcast some recorded public service announcements, contacting every citizen personally on their phone. Due to the poverty and somewhat lacking health care system in India, prevention seems to be the most important part of keeping this virus at bay. People are being asked to stay inside as much as possible, at least for the next few weeks, and everyone entering the country through air travel has to fill in a form where they self-report their potential corona symptoms.
If every country would have acted as quickly and as seriously as India, we probably would have already stopped the coronavirus. There wouldn’t be an Italy, a Spain, a Wuhan or a New York. And while some people are bound to ignore the regulations – we are still human, after all – it’s hard to deny that this kind of draconic measures seem to help. If all of us do our best to follow the guidelines our respective governments are handing out, this nightmare will be over soon.
Remember that this isn’t just for your own health. You may not be someone who is currently at risk of having serious complications from the coronavirus, but that doesn’t mean you’re immune or the people around you can’t be at risk. You could infect people that aren’t so lucky, or you could be wrong about how good your immune system is. Or you could just have bad luck. There’s no reason to take a gamble on this. All we have to do is follow the rules for a few hellishly long weeks, and we’ll all laugh about this in a few months.
And remember: if you go outside without permission, Coronacop will find you and stop you. The virus doesn’t rest, so neither should justice.
