While the Central government has loudly been reiterating lockdown extension as its answer on how to contain the spread of the Coronavirus in the country, it has seemingly been skipping to address the adverse effect brought by the lockdown - the hunger crisis. The complete lockdown is an unprecedented experiment for India since its independence and the government has extended the lockdown till May 17. 

At the end of May 17, India would have crossed seven weeks of the continuous lockdown and as backed by the government, the extraordinary measure is expected to flatten the curve of COVID-19 affected cases. However, the adverse effect of the lockdown had directly impacted the poor, daily-waged middle-class, and migrant workers and these people ought to face the hunger and economic crisis if the government fails to get their backs. They put forth one major question of 'when will Corona panic gets over and how long it will take'?

According to the current numbers, the country hasn't given any surety that the lockdown won't be extended beyond May 17. Our sources say that the Union Ministry of Tourism has signaled that the tourist spots, resorts, and restaurants would be closed till October that had raised speculations about the state of rest of the businesses and the livelihoods that rely on these establishments. 

When we asked a senior doctor attached to the private hospital in Chennai on how long the lockdown would play its role, he said that India has reported its first case on January 30 and the complete lockdown was imposed on March 23 which means that the country has wasted about 50 days and the government hasn't expedited the precautionary measures. 

The government should have restricted the movement of the people, suspended the transportation channels at the initial stage to curb the spread. It should have also prepared the personal protective gear and medical equipment and installed a commission to deal with the economic instability. 

However, the government hasn't reacted to the spread at the initial stage leaving the country to have the possibilities of community transmission. The sudden announcements of the lockdown and restrictions had created panic among the people. The government should have created awareness about the pandemic and advised to add social distancing, wearing masks, and using hand sanitizers as part of their lifestyle. 

He stated that about 80% of people who tested positive for Coronavirus in India were asymptomatic. People would approach the doctors only if they develop symptoms but when it comes to Corona, it has different developments and the lockdown has been imposed to restrict the movements of people who can be the asymptomatic carriers for the virus. 

The lockdown would be gradually eased by the government based on the reporting of cases in the Red, Orange, and Green zones. As far as Chennai is concerned, the city stays under the Red zone and it would turn to Green only after recovery of all positive cases. The decline in the cases would let the government decline the stages of the lockdown and the spread of the virus would fully be contained only if people adhere to the lockdown rules and protocols. He further added that they must ensure to follow the guidelines issued by the government. 

However, the government must roll out the remedies for poor people to ease their hardships of hunger and economic instability. If the government doesn't delve into their pains, the Corona pandemic would become a hunger pandemic, which would make the situation much more worsen. Recently, David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Programme has alarmed India that millions of people are facing hunger during COVID-19 lockdown and the most vulnerable are contract workers, migrant laborers, and daily-wage workers as they neither have jobs currently nor an earning to run their families in the wake of the nationwide lockdown.