Lockdown rules aim to save lives, save economy

The government seems to have banked on the lessons learnt from shutdown enforced last year in the guise of general holidays to outline restrictive rules to be enforced during the second lockdown from Monday by focusing on saving both lives and economy.

The economy had to experience a catastrophic impact last year due to the shutdown that shuttered all economic activities as a means to fight the virus to save people's lives causing enormous impact on people's economic lives.

The poverty rate has almost doubled as low-income people were hit hard by either losing jobs or incomes during the shutdown. And many of their incomes have yet to return to the pre-pandemic level.

This time around, the government did not follow the previous recipe. It announced fresh instructions on Sunday that saw a record 7,087 single-day infections and 53 deaths.

The lockdown rules are aimed at restricting people's movement and gatherings by imposing a ban on all sorts of public transports. Directives were also made to enforce other health guidelines to contain the surge in Covid-19.

But, factories and industries will remain open, ensuring workers' safety and health issues. This may offer some comfort to the economy recovering from the pandemic shock.

Yet, the economy cannot avert the negative impact of the restrictive rules as the full economy will not remain open during the lockdown.

Shops and markets across the country will remain closed during the lockdown. There are more. Restaurants will remain open but can provide only home deliveries. Domestic flights, train services and other public transport services will remain suspended.

The rules are clearly aimed at restricting movement of people who are the driving force of our economy.

The selective rules, however, indicate that the government wants to minimise the economic harm.

But the way of enforcement of the rules matters.

Both health experts and economists want strict enforcement of the rules.

"The government had learnt its lessons from the previous lockdown. This time, the authorities have taken initiatives to reduce infections by controlling people's movement while keeping economic activities undisrupted this time," said Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute. "The government is deliberately going for a selective lockdown so that people's lives are not disrupted."

Professor Md Sayedur Rahman, chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, said the authorities should ensure that people do not move from one place to another during the lockdown.

He said the movement would have to be totally blocked and big cities would have to be cut off to prevent the spread of the virus in villages.

But, the reality is starkly different to what health experts suggest.

After the announcement of the lockdown on Saturday, a mad rush began as many Dhaka dwellers started to leave for their country homes. Without maintaining health guidelines, many rushed to bus and launch terminals as well as railway stations to grab tickets for their families. In the view of health experts, such movement of people increases the risk of spreading virus.

What Professor Mustafizur Rahman thinks is noteworthy.

The impacts of the pandemic would be greater if the current rise in infections continued, said Mustafizur, distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue.

"In this situation, there is no scope to calculate financial losses to be caused by the lockdown. Rather, the lockdown is needed to protect the economy in addition to people's lives."