Nothing to gloat over occupying second slot : Daily spike of 90 thousand plus
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 15 2020 -

Second in the world and still going strong and there is nothing to gloat over this.

On the contrary there is every reason to worry over this position and the strong surge.

With over 90 thousand cases recorded every 24 hours in the past few days, India will only further cement her place in the second position and give a strong challenge for the number one spot to the United States in the coming days and this is something to worry about.

Not something out of the unexpected for this is something which experts had feared long time back, when the attention of the world was keyed in on Wuhan in China.

It was not for nothing why many presumed that the situation would be bad once the virus lands at India and this fear has not been unfounded.

With 130 crore people, India is next to only China in terms of population but has a far higher human density, that is the number of people per square kilometre.

While the population density of China has been worked out at 153 persons per square kilometre, India is way above at 450 persons per square kilometre according to an estimate worked out in 2017.

On the other hand the population density at the USA is a healthy 36 persons per square kilometre.

Coronavirus spreads and this is mainly via contact and respiratory droplets and this is where population density becomes important and India scores high on the population density index.

This could be one primary reason why the country has been witnessing an increase of over 90 thousand infection every 24 hours for the past few days and there is as yet nothing to suggest that this trend will not continue.

In the increase of over 90 thousand per day, Manipur too has been contributing her share with three figure marks in the last many days and if the trend continues it wouldn’t be long when it reaches the 10 thousand infected milestone.

As on September 13, the total number of infected was 7875 and the death tally 46.

The figure by itself may not look much, when compared to other States such as Maharashtra, Karnataka or even Assam but remember Manipur is a small State with only about 30 lakh population in total.

Given this, the total of 7875 is high and so is the number of deaths at 46.

In line with Unlock 4.0, Manipur too has started opening up and this is where people need to acknowledge the reality that the easing of the restrictions does not in any way mean that the virus has been neutralised.

On the contrary the number of infection is increasing daily in three figure marks and this reality should not be lost on anyone.

Maintain physical/social distancing, wear a face mask properly covering the nose and mouth and wash one’s hand regularly with soap and water or with a hand sanitiser.

These guidelines should be understood as discouraging socialising and moving around in groups.

With cases increasing each day it should be more than clear that people have to deal with local transmission and this is where one cannot be too careful.