WHY YOU MUST STAY HOME

With more people visible on the roads on Monday, the sixth day of the lockdown, here are five reasons why people must stay at home to stem the Covid-19 outbreak

1 VIRUS SPREADS THOUGH CONTACT

It spreads between people in close contact through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Stepping out also results in contamination of surfaces or objects, from where it can infect people who touch the surface and then touch their own mouth, nose, or eyes

2 INFECTION MAY OCCUR WITHOUT CLOSE CONTACT

In China, scientists have documented a cluster of cases among people who worked in shops or visited them, and who had no direct contact with an infected person. Turns out, indirect transmission may have occured via surfaces like elevator buttons, or taps

3 LOCKDOWN GREATLY REDUCES TRANSMISSION

A recent study by the Imperial College London found that population-wide social distancing would have the largest impact in transmission reduction, especially when in combination with other interventions, such as home isolation of infected people and closure of schools. Studies also say social distancing measures give govts time to prepare for a spurt in infections

4 CURBS HELPED CHINA CONTROL PANDEMIC

A WHO report recently concluded that the cordon sanitaire (restriction on movement of people) imposed around Wuhan and neighbouring municipalities ended the movement of infected people to the rest of the country. The lockdown also led to a steep decline in new infections

5 LOCKDOWN HELPS GOVTS TRACK, TRACE

To contain spread, govts must identify infected cases and isolate them and their close contacts before they infect others. The govt can also use this time to build health infrastructure, source ventilators, medicine, PPEs for health workers, and accelerate vaccine development