As soon as the lockdown due to COVID-19 was announced, the first priority was to ensure that the government guidelines were followed, and the employees and staff were kept safe from the pandemic. As per guidelines, the parents were requested to take the children home. While in the Nagercoil Home only two children remained, in the Chennai Home 108 children remained. This meant a large number of staff members were needed to take care of them.

To ensure safety, it was decided that the Home in Chennai would be converted into a bio-zone, insulated from the outside world as much as possible. Many matrons and helpers stayed back in Bala Mandir to take care of the children 24x7 and avoid movement in and out. Advice from doctors who have been associated with Bala Mandir for decades now, was also taken to arrive at norms and protocols for safety which were all followed with great care. The children and staff were also given immunity building supplements. All the different areas of Bala Mandir were disinfected regularly, including the walls outside and inside the rooms. Thermal scanning was done to check temperature and Hand sanitizer and trays of Dettol to wash feet were placed at all entry points to be used by staff coming from outside.

The lockdown led to a forced acceleration in adoption of IT in many areas of Bala Mandir. 

Online Spoken English and Maths classes were started for the children at the Home with the help of a large number of volunteers. 

As the education units were shut down, Whatsapp groups were created for each section to ensure the learning process was kept alive. Teachers provided the students with worksheets along with audios and videos to ensure that they understand the concepts clearly. Daily lessons were given, and evaluations were carried out. A lot of effort also went into reaching out to the children and parents who were not responding.