People from Coimbatore, Nilgiris and Tirupur have been requesting everyday to SimpliCity in comments and messages that they require the street names of those tested positive COVID-19, so that they can be careful now of not going through these streets or to the places those patients have visited.
Coimbatore: Following the imposition of nationwide lockdown and today’s extension of lockdown by CM Edapadi Palaniswamy till April 30, 2020 and the number of cases who are testing positive for COVID-19 increasing, people from Coimbatore, Tirupur and Nilgiris have been requesting everyday to SimpliCity in comments and messages that they require the street names of those tested positive COVID-19, so that they can be careful now of not going through these streets or to the places those patients have visited. This is after the area names of affected persons have been disclosed two days back.
So here’s the thing with street names..
This whole business of "we will be careful after the infection comes to our street" is exactly why the infection has come to your area already.
This completely misses the point of lockdown and in this social media frenzy, people are sharing photos, apartment and street names of COVID-19 patients right from when the very first case was declared in Coimbatore.
How relevant is a street or apartment name when you or your neighbour has flouted lockdown norms continuously to venture out into other areas one day, nearby grocery stores every other day, buy medicines one day, go out to buy vegetables on another day and finally a funda meat buying outing flouting all social distancing norms on Sunday. Under these circumstances, there is no point in knowing street names.
Government has been appealing to people to stay indoors, not congregate and maintain social distancing norms even during the rare (i.e. 2 times in 21 days) times, that you have to come out for buying essentials. Now with 120 cases, almost all major areas of coimbatore has had one case within 5 kms.
So what does this mean? It means that you treat yourself like you have a COVID-19 patient in your home or as your neighbour, for the next 21 days and stay indoors. By doing that we as a society would have controlled the spread of the virus greatly.
Those in KK Pudur can now testify to others in Coimbatore that having a COVID-19 case in their vicinity didn’t change what they had to do to save themselves or their families.
We in Coimbatore always boast that within 40 minutes one can reach the other end of the city and many have continued this behaviour even during this lockdown to venture out to shops in different areas instead of buying from the nearby grocery shops. People from Vadavalli are commonly seen visiting RS Puram to buy their groceries when nearby shops were plenty enough. Similar transgressions were seen from all areas of Coimbatore like RS Puram, Saibaba Colony, Race Course, Ramanathapuram, Perur, Singanallur, Saravanampatti, Thudiyalur, Kuniyamuthur and other areas in the outskirts too. Even those who had earlier bought groceries once in 15 days are now venturing out daily probably thinking that if they venture out before 1PM, the virus will not infect them.
From contemporary to novel to legal punishments, the authorities have been trying to sensitise people to stay indoors but people don’t seem to pay heed. In some places construction site work has been ongoing and in almost all areas, people have been roaming around daily to buy groceries or medicines.
Right now we are following the dangerous trend of doubling the total number of positive cases every 4-5 days through reckless social behaviour and have now put the whole district at risk of extended lockdowns post April 30 if we don’t reverse our social behaviour.
With the government believing in the lockdown to control the curve more than active large scale testing, and the fact that 15 lakh passengers have come through our airports from January 18th to March 23rd from abroad, and many lakh passengers travelling between Indian cities on a daily basis until March 24th, citizens would do well to stay indoors and not think their street is not infected. Until government starts mass testing, we cannot think that these numbers are the only COVID-19 patients around us and become socially reckless.
So as the government has appealed, just stay indoors, maintain social distancing and behave as though your street is infected (irrespective of the fact whether it is infected or not) for 21 days. This will help us control the spread of the virus drastically or flatten the curve as experts would say. If we instead display more reckless social decorum, we cannot complain if Coimbatore is one of those districts where the lockdown is extended beyond April 30, 2020.
You are not just putting yourself at risk, but your family members, your street neighbours, lakhs of poor people, the selfless sanitary and healthcare workers, government servants and police personnel who are risking their lives for keeping you safe. If not for you, just respect these workers who are pledging their lives in the frontline for you and do not venture out.
p.s. for those wondering why the title mentions street names but the article doesn’t, that’s the point we are trying to tell you here. Street names or apartment names don’t matter.
As we write this article, we have come to know that two doctors who have been treating COVID-19 patients in the ESI Hospital, Singanallur have been tested positive for coronavirus infection