Abhijit Banerjee tells Bengal CM: I am working from home but you are going outside, please take care of yourself

Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee – the 2019 Nobel Prize winner in Economics – joined West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee at a video conference. The chief minister was addressing the media from the state administrative headquarters Nabanna, while Abhijit Banerjee was speaking from his home.  Abhijit Banerjee is part of the advisory body formed by the Bengal government for formulating COVID-19 response policies in the state.

When the CM asked him to be careful, the economist said that he was working from home. “But you are going outside. Please take care of yourself,” Abhijit Banerjee told the CM.

During the videoconference, Abhijit Banerjee suggested that the government open a hotline so that people can report if a number of people suddenly start showing symptoms of COVID-19 in a particular area. Tests could thus be conducted for specific areas based on that information. The economist stressed on improving the “reporting structure”.

He also suggested that the markets could have arrangements of placing sanitizer or soap and water at the entrance and exit so that people can wash their hands before entering and after coming out of the markets. People should also be made to wear masks in the markets, he said. Some sort of demarcation should also be made so that people don’t cross the line in markets. All these are cheap but effective ways to contain the spread of coronavirus. The economist also said that we must not panic in the situation as that often led to taking wrong decisions.