Let's understand what lockdown is, first.
It is a situation in which people are not allowed to enter or leave their house freely because of an emergency. We can also say that lockdown is an emergency safety protocol. It is a requirement for people to stay where they are and do not move freely due to some risks to themselves and others as well. A government imposes it with an objective to control risk or danger and save its citizens. A lockdown can also be localized or applied over a wide area, depending on the purpose.
The lockdown has already been imposed
earlier in different states/countries.
For example,
-There was a three-day lockdown of American civilian airspace in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001.
-Brussels and Belgium were also locked down in 2015 when they soughed suspects involved with the November 2015 Paris attacks.
-India, in August 2019, also imposed the lockdown in Jammu & Kashmir after revoking the special status under Article 370.
Lockdown in 2020.
Firstly, the lockdown in 2020 was imposed in China. It was imposed on 23rd January 2020 in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei to quarantine the outbreak of coronavirus disease or COVID-19.
COVID-19 or coronavirus disease is an infectious disease. It is caused by a coronavirus (a newly discovered virus). It affects different people in different ways. Most people recover from it without hospitalization. The most common symptoms are- fever, dry cough, tiredness, etc.
The virus generates droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or exhales. We can be infected by breathing in close to an infected person. Also, we can be infected by touching a contaminated surface and then touching our nose, eyes, or mouth.
Globally, as of 10:33 am CEST, 17 October 2020, there have been 39,023,292 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 1,099,586 deaths, reported to WHO.
After China, other countries also imposed lockdown to control the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak. More than 100 countries worldwide imposed either full or partial lockdown by the end of March 2020 which was indeed necessary to control the spread of coronavirus. Every country shut down their nation for a month or two (or more than that) and slowly reopened.
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Let’s understand the impact of Lockdown.
Positive Impacts:
On COVID-19 Disease: The most significant impact of lockdown can be seen on coronavirus disease. Lockdown made social distancing effective that prohibited human to human contact at the highest possible level. It helped a lot in controlling the spread of COVID-19 disease.
On Pollution Level: Another significant impact of lockdown can be seen on the pollution level. Since all types of transports were suspended to roam unnecessarily and industries were closed down, the air quality index improved drastically.
On River Water: A positive effect on the water quality of all the rivers can also be seen due to the stoppage of industrial wastes and pollutants to the rivers.
Food, Health, and Family: People have became cautious about eating food outside and started eating home-made food to stay healthy. They can take a little more sleep as they don’t have to travel to their offices/companies. As a result, they spend more time with their family members and do fun activities like playing games, cooking meals or trying different dishes, doing arts and crafts, and much more.
Negative Impacts:
On the Economy: The shutdown of a nation is not at all good for its economy. It is a setback for the development of a nation. The small virus has brought the world’s economies to their knees. Many people have lost their jobs. Many companies have shut down.
On Education Industries: Schools, colleges, coaching classes, and universities are closed and impacting over 60 to 70 % of the world’s student population. However, with the help of technology, a lot of institutions have come up with virtual/online classes or e-learning solutions.
On Unemployment and Poverty: Studies have shown mass unemployment across the world. Home-workers, construction workers, and other labourers have lost their jobs. Businesses are also shutdown which lead to increase poverty.
Mental Depression: A lot of people have been psychologically impacted due to lockdown. They have gone through mental depressions as they don’t have work to do, food to eat, etc.
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Social Media during Lockdown
After the lockdown, it has been seen that people are spending more than usual time online reading news and using social media platforms. According to comScore, the time spent by readers on news sites has been increased by 46%.
It is not only Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter seeing increased traffic – Skype, Zoom and Google Meet users have also drastically increased. Since people can’t hang out with their friends, they are connecting virtually on different social media platforms. The gap that is left due to the lack of social interaction is being filled by different social media. Social media has always been a place for people to talk to and interact with their near and dear ones, but after the lockdown, it has become the only place for them to talk or interact.
Advantages
* It has helped businesses to grow even in lockdown.
* It has helped people to connect family and friends globally.
* People have got easy access to news and information through social media.
* It has became one of the best tools for education.
* It has created awareness for many social issues.
* Employment opportunities have also been created by social media.
* It has became the best tool/place for business promotion and marketing.
Disadvantages
* It’s one of the factors causing depression and anxiety in people.
* It’s also a cause of poor mental growth in children.
* Poor sleeping patterns have been developed among people due to increased use of social media.
* Enables cheating in exams and dropping the performance of students.
* Lack of privacy.
* Cyber-crimes like cyberbullying, hacking, identity theft, phishing crimes, etc.
* Addiction: People are addicted to social media now due to their excessive use.
* Relationship frauds: People are lured into relationships and love schemes and then they are cheated on.
* Health issues: People often complain of becoming lazy, fat, itchy eyes, loss of vision, and stress issues after excessive use of social media.
Conclusion
Lockdown was very necessary to control the COVID-19 epidemic and prevent it from spreading to the community level. Despite its negative impacts, lockdown is very important and is the only way to save people’s lives. Although it has been partially removed, still there are some public places like parks, theatres, ritual spots, etc. that are under lockdown.
Do follow the guidelines and cooperate to stay safe and also keep others safe in this epidemic.
Thank You!
1 Comments
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