Approximately 1,192 days since January 30, 2020, when COVID-19 was announced as a ‘public health emergency of international concern’, the World Health Organization, on May 5, 2023, declared that COVID-19 was no longer a public health emergency of international concern. In simpler terms, COVID-19 has acquired the status of other endemic diseases. India, arguably, reached the COVID-19 endemic stage a year ago.
Even so, there have been ‘knee-jerk’ and unscientific responses to spikes in COVID-19 cases in India, the most recent example being the response in March-April 2023, when there was an uptick in viral flu and SARS-CoV-2 cases, which led to the closure of schools in some Indian cities and States. In instances where schools were not closed, their managements made mask wearing a mandatory condition for children to attend classes. This, in some instances, happened without a formal government directive, indicating implicit endorsement.
