Such a transition would need a smart and balanced approach. The blunted curve seems to have emboldened the Government to allow for a cautious reopening of a few critical sectors, while the general lockdown has been extended until May 3.Ī sustained reduction in cases for at least 14 days, hospitals being in the state of readiness to treat all patients requiring hospitalization, capacity to test all the people with COVID-19 symptoms, and contact-tracing and isolation are the trigger factors to slowly pass on to the second phase of calibrated and cautious reopening. The first phase was not without problems - limited testing capacity, unexpected major hot spots, socioeconomic implications of the lockdown triggering unrest and reverse migration and suboptimal availability of PPE were the major challenges, which have been overcome to the extent possible.

That, coupled with robust surveillance and creation of containment and buffer zones for a deep lockdown, seems to have helped in slowing the doubling time of the disease from about 3 days to about 6 days now. Targeted testing and data analysis ensured the identification of hot spots and an understanding of the local disease transmission pattern and enabled massive contact tracing and quarantine as appropriate.

Parallelly, health care systems were reinforced with the creation of critical care facilities to specifically treat COVID-19 patients and the procurement of personal protection equipment (PPE). Slowing the pandemic involved complete country-wide lockdown for 4 weeks to ensure optimal physical distancing, inculcation of personal hygiene practices and the use of face masks, while we built a robust data collection and reporting infrastructure and augmented our diagnostic capacity. We are currently in the phase of slowing the pandemic and are perhaps inching slowly towards the phase of reopening. The phased approach incorporates several perfectly timed vital steps - 1. India seems to have taken the right leadership posture and public health measures at quite the right time to significantly slow down the spread of COVID-19 pandemic and has very quickly learned from the errors in judgment of other countries.

'In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.' Prepare or perish - Readiness is the key to reopen for routine eye care.

Perish eyes