Anand Mahindra says lockdown extensions are economically disastrous, create medical crisis

Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra on Monday said lockdown extensions not only affect the economy but also create a medical crisis. 

“Lockdown extensions aren’t just economically disastrous, as I had tweeted earlier, but also create another medical crisis,” the Mahindra Group CEO said. He made the comment referring to an article that highlighted the dangerous psychological effects of lockdowns and the huge risk of neglecting non-COVID patients.

While acknowledging that decision-making for policymakers is not easy, Mahindra said that the lockdown extension will not help. Instead, the government, with the help of the army’s expertise, should focus on the rapid expansion of field hospital beds with oxygen lines.

Earlier, Mahindra had said that if the lockdown is extended for much longer, it could lead to ‘economic hara-kiri’. While the lockdown did help buy time to enhance medical infrastructure and save lakhs of lives, Mahindra had said that its extension will hurt the weaker section of the society.

According to Mahindra, India should focus on widespread testing and tracing, containment of the virus at sub-PIN code levels, and protect the elderly and medically vulnerable.