Here's how a 21-day lockdown might help break the Covid-19 chain

• On March 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a complete nationwide lockdown for 21 days.
  
• The incubation period to control the spread of Coronavirus is anywhere between two to 14 days, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
  
• New researches estimated that the incubation period may be stretched for as long as 24 days.
  
• As the country goes into a complete lockdown mode, social isolation will help the healthcare professionals finally confirm the total number of Coronavirus cases and break this chain of spread.
  
• Follow the comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact, and other useful resources that can help you in the fight on Business Insider India.

On March 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a complete nationwide lockdown for 21 days, starting midnight. This might help the country crack down on the chain transmission of Coronavirus.

In fact, this may also have implications on the community spread and help contain the disease.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that incubation period to control the spread of the novel Coronavirus is anywhere between 2-14 days. In most cases, symptoms start to show up after five days of infection. On the other hand, there are asymptomatic cases too, which are much more difficult to identify.

However, new research estimates that this period can stretch for as long as 24 days.

According to a recent review paper published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), a longer incubation period has implications on quarantine policies and the spread of the disease. This is because the disease is not just transmitted via droplets, but can also be found in blood and stool — which questions the potential modes of transmission.

The time now is to follow a suppressing strategy, which calls for locking people away and killing the roots off completely, not just restricting the movement of people or mitigating, Alastair Newton, a political scientist told Business Insider.

Coronavirus infections can transfer very quickly from one person to more than two people within five days and can infect almost 244 people over a period of 30 days, if not quarantined. As the country goes into a complete lockdown mode, social isolation will help healthcare professionals to finally confirm the total number of Coronavirus cases for treatment and break the chain of spread.

If a suspected case is confirmed and the person is prevented from meeting others, the chain is broken and infection is restricted to that person only.

India replicates the effective techniques to prevent the spread

Tracing the infectious cases and the drill to prevent chain transmission almost remains the same. South Korea, which has a total of 9,037 Coronavirus cases — including 120 deaths has slowed its epidemic, thanks to its aggressive testing programme and comprehensive attempts to isolate infected people.

As of March 17, South Korea tested over 270,000 people. That accounts for more than 5,200 tests per million — compared to 74 tests per million in the US, as revealed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meanwhile, Singapore has had 558 infections and two deaths, as on March 25. The reason that it has a slower infection rate is the fact that the country did not discharge its infected people from the hospitals to get back to the community. Moreover, Singapore formulated contact tracing teams who identify all possible contacts of the infected people and call them up.

The Coronavirus pandemic has cost over 18,000 lives so far — and is showing no signs of dying down. Initial experiments and research shows that Summer temperatures, humid environment may not slow down the spread.

See also:
Prime Minister Modi declares 21-day nationwide lockdown starting midnight

Here’s what you can access during the 21-day lockdown across India

What is social distancing and how can you practice it?