Lockdown extensions are not only economically disastrous but also create another medical crisis, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said on Monday.
While acknowledging that choices are not easy for policymakers, he said a lockdown extension will not help. "Lockdown extensions aren't just economically disastrous, as I had tweeted earlier, but also create another medical crisis," Mahindra said in a tweet.
Lockdown extensions aren't just economically disastrous, as I had tweeted earlier, but also create another medical crisis. This article highlights the dangerous psychological effects of lockdowns & the huge risk of neglecting non-covid patients. (1/2) https://t.co/XAks2nxbdH
May 25, 2020He was referring to an article that highlighted "the dangerous psychological effects of lockdowns and the huge risk of neglecting Non-Covid-19 patients".
Mahindra, who had earlier proposed a comprehensive lifting after 49 days of lockdown, further said, "The choices aren't easy for policymakers but a lockdown extension won't help".
"The numbers (coronavirus cases) will continue to rise and the focus must be on rapid expansion of field hospital beds with oxygen lines,” he tweeted. "The army has enormous expertise in this.”
On March 22, before the government announced the nationwide lockdown, Mahindra had proposed such a move expressing concerns over reports that India was likely to have already reached Stage 3 of coronavirus transmission.
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