48 hours later and not yet a word : The Nawa Loude attitude
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 01 2020 -

It is the damn care attitude that is unacceptable. Borders more on criminal negligence.

Even 48 hours after reports came in that samples of 25 inmates of a quarantine centre at Ukhrul which were first declared negative were found to be positive and then again of the 24 samples re-tested 19 found negative, no one has bothered to explain how the blunder crept in.

Or is it a case of the authority concerned giving a damn and coming under the impression that they do not owe anyone an explanation ?

It is this mentality that sucks.

Where is the question of accountability ?

Or are the people responsible for handling something as sensitive as stamping a person as either positive or negative not at all answerable to the people ?

48 hours is more than enough time to come out with an official statement on what exactly happened and how the blunder crept in.

It is this chalta hai attitude that needs to be nipped in the bud or else all the efforts that have been initiated to keep the virus under check will fall flat on its face.

In the absence of any official clarification or explanation or anything that comes close to explaining what exactly happened, there arises the question of how exactly reliable are the tests being conducted on thousands of people who have returned home from outside the State ?

The least that people expect from those manning the Health Department is some explanation, or is it a question of the people being taken for granted under the impression that there is nothing much that they can do, such as transferring them or holding up their pay ?

Discard this mindset or else the fight against the virus will end up as a dud.

The Nawa Loude attitude should go for it is sticking out like a sore thumb for all to see and feel. It is more than an eye sore.

Can Manipur afford such a lackadaisical approach to the task at hand ?

As things stand right now, the number of positive people is increasing with each passing day and as on June 29, the number of positive cases stood at 1227.

The number is expected to increase and the focus of everyone should be to ensure that the outbreak does not descend to a state of community transmission.

It is confusing reports such as negative now, positive the next day and then negative again, which can negate all efforts taken up to check community transmission.

Contact tracing must have started and the only way the damage can be minimised now is to act fast on the situation and list all the contacts and proceed with the necessary procedures to get them tested as well.

This is where one hopes and pray that those who were wrongly declared negative did not have the time to mix and socialise with others after the end of their quarantine period.

On the other hand, the one week total lockdown imposed by the Tangkhul Coordination Forum on COVID-19 should be taken seriously by all.

Erroneous status report, unexplained case of a mother and aunt testing positive but the child testing negative all call for stringent measures and it is to the credit of the people of Ukhrul and Kamjong districts that necessary arrangements have been made to make all returnees undergo a 28 day quarantine period.

As stated this is a model that should be appreciated and other CSOs should study to see how they can chip in more meaningfully.