Virus threat not over yet
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: September 16, 2021 -

AFTER months of facing full wrath of the virulent second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, the test positivity rate in the state showing declining trend in the last few days in the current month gives every reason to the masses to believe that the fight against the pandemic is bearing some fruit.

Even though the number of infected people on Tuesday was nearly 100 more than Monday's 136, the drop in the positivity rate to 6.94 per cent from the previous day's 7.12 per cent indicates that the pace of transmission of the virus has been slackening to some extent.

Amid signs of slight improvement in the situation, a distinct disturbing trend is that more females than males have had contracted the viral disease in the past 3-4 days.

Generally considered as the homemakers, the higher rate of infection among the womenfolk indicates that multiple family members could have been infected, thus underscoring importance of vigorous contact tracing.

While there is strong possibility of the infection rate increasing in case the sample testing capacity is enhanced, the dip in the positivity rate would definitely be providing some respite to the healthcare workers and reenergising them to continue leading from the front for the upcoming festivals and intensification of election-related activities would obviously abet resurgence of the infectious disease as both entail mass congregation of people.

Compared to electioneering, festive events are unlikely to see aggravation of the situation as the government is certain to impose restrictions in case of spike in the number of cases.

However, it is unthinkable for the authorities to prohibit political events and gathering as had been showcased when elections were conducted in some states during the height of the pandemic's second wave amid India recording positive cases in lakhs and thousands of deaths on a daily basis.

Thus, it is imperative that the efforts to keep the situation under control must be sustained. As had been frequently opined in this column, the only means to effectively break the chain of transmission is to intensify the contact tracing exercise as failure to detect, isolate and treat the vectors would only lead to surge in the number of cases and overwhelm the healthcare infrastructure.

The consequences of higher occupancy of beds in hospitals or designated Covid care centres would also see rise in the number of casualties as had been experienced when Manipur recorded fatalities in double digits from May till July this year.

With gradual improvement in the pandemic situation already leading to a false sense of security among the commoners and the government authorities as could be comprehended from the public complacency to follow the safety protocols and the SOPs flouted at many recent official or political events, it is worrying that some of the gains made in the last few weeks might go waste.

The overall situation might have improved to some extent compared to the previous months but the fact remains that some districts, including the densely populated state's Covid-19 epicentre Imphal West, are still recording positivity rate in double digits.