As the sequel of the peaking COVID-19 cases, the Tamil Nadu government has on Sunday unveiled a fresh set of restrictions to contain the spread of the pandemic. The state will be brought under the ambit of night curfew and weekend lockdowns from April 20 as the government has imposed a night curfew from 10 pm to 4 am across the state with complete lockdowns on Sunday. 

It has been expected that the restrictions will stay will till April 30 and can possibly be re-enforced if the situation warrants. By imposing a night curfew as one of its weapons to battle the spread, Tamil Nadu has joined the club of several Indian states that had imposed a night curfew. While night curfew is spelled by the states to be a mechanism to curb the spread, it naturally stirs skepticism on what's logic behind such night curfews when the movements of people would normally be limited than in the daytime on how it helps the state in battling the spread in dark. 

The night curfews are placed under scrutiny over their efficacy in containing the spread with many people doubting how such curfews would help to break the transmission chain and they do let the health experts divide. In a larger vein, such night curfews could possibly go vain as the country has already recorded a heavy caseload despite imposing the night curfews. So can the night curfews help the government in flattening the COVID-19 curve? 

The reason behind doubting the purpose of the night curfews is that many people feel that crowded public places like markets and malls would usually get closed by 10 pm after which there would be very little footfall than the daytime. The health experts say that the night curfew won't serve its fullest purpose as night hours aren't the whole reason for the peak in COVID-19 cases. The cases can only be curbed when the people follow the guidelines and the government gets on a war foot to battle the spread by increasing the testing and hospital infrastructure. 

Speaking to a news agency, Gautam Menon, professor at the Department of Physics and Biology at Ashoka University, said, "Curfews, especially night curfews, are not expected to be helpful in curbing cases. The only purpose I can think they serve is to give a break to police and those in allied jobs, including healthcare workers, who are in charge of enforcing COVID-19 guidelines in the day. The experts' highlight that the governments think night curfews may slow down the transmission and they aren't the ultimate solution that the government can rely on to curb the spread.

They press that, while the governments call night curfews to help, there is an urgent need to shift the focus on vaccination and keeping the eagle eye on whether the people follow the guidelines and protocols. Paresh Sawant of Bhatia Hospital in Mumbai said, "Night curfew along with day restrictions will not surely end COVID-19 but the number of cases will definitely go down. It's important to note that it reduces the burden on the healthcare system and deaths due to unavailability of hospital beds can be prevented". 

It also has been reported that though night curfew won't give a larger breakthrough, it can help in taking the seriousness of the pandemic and sensitize people on the need to follow the safety measures. Having said that, it also shuts down the functioning of the bars, pubs, and nightclubs where the people would usually gather in large numbers by taking a break from the COVID-19 guidelines.

Professor K Srinath Reddy, who is the President of the Public Health Foundation of India, has a theoretical point of view in advocating the night curfew. Speaking to a news agency, Reddy said, "Night curfew can be justified on some practical and some theoretical grounds and such curfews would prevent indoor gatherings such as parties and celebrations which could possibly evolve into a COVID-19 superspreader". " Theoretically, the virus is less easily dispersed in the cooler night air and can hang closer to the ground in viral clouds. Low levels of ultraviolet light at night also increase virus survival outdoor", Reddy added. 

Significantly, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has also spelled against the merit of the night curfew. While addressing at a media conclave recently, Vardhan said, "Physical distancing is an established non-pharmaceutical intervention to suppress the transmission of COVID. In this context, partial lockdowns such as night curfews or weekend lockdowns would not have much impact on transmission". As the night curfew has kept the experts divided over determining its efficacy and purpose of curbing the spread, most of the people spell it to be out of logic.

As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, it remains under the grounds of the exponential COVID-19 cases which had triggered the government to impose the night curfew between 10 pm to 4 am from April 20. How it would help the state? Speaking to a Tamil news agency, Dr. Farooq Abdullah said that it's not medically proven that the night curfew would contain and break the transmission but this curfew would definitely help the government in changing the laxity that prevails among the people, and the night curfew is partially acceptable to curb the spread.  

We can say that though night curfews go beyond logic, they could play a role in mitigating the grounds of superspreader events. On the other hand, the night curfews are the latest victim of the social media users as they have been trolling the measure, and the government. Some of the users wrote, "Corona only comest out at night" and "TENET is the second most confusing stuff to solve. Logic behind the night curfew in Corona is still the first". According to the Tamil Nadu government, the night curfew will ban the movement of inter and intrastate public transports from 10 pm to 4 am and it also bans the unnecessary movements of people by allowing only the emergency and essential services to operate.