Call for all to get vaccinated : Noting stand of Govt
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 01, 2021 -

The missing link. This is what is worrying.

Even after more than 60 days of restrictions on people's movement, containment, curfew or whatever term one may give it, the number of positive cases continue to surge in triple digit each day and so too deaths.

The situation calls for the Government to think out of the box and study where the loopholes may be.

Vaccination is one answer, no doubt about it and here the Government seems to have taken this call with the seriousness it deserves best exemplified by its notification on June 30, that any relaxation in the restrictions under the lockdown may not be applicable for those who are yet to receive their vaccine shots.

Given the refusal of quite a number of people to come out and get their vaccination shots, this is probably one way of going about with the task at hand.

This is where some bare facts ought to be drilled into the heads of everyone concerned.

Amongst the 8 States in the North East region of the country, Manipur is right up there in the cumulative figure of positive cases, in the number of deaths and in the number of active cases.

It is only Assam which is above Manipur, with 4,74,457 cumulative figure of positive cases and 45,098 deaths.

The number of active cases in the neighbouring State too is up there at 4509. These figures are till June 29.

Manipur on the other hand has a cumulative figure of 62,134 positive cases out of which 5923 are active cases. The death tally is 1141.

Below Assam, but then remember the population in the neighbouring State is way above Manipur standing at 3.09 crore as in 2012. The projected population of Manipur in 2021 is 31 lakhs.

Below Assam but way above the other North Eastern States. Meghalaya with a projected population of 38.65 lakhs in 2021 has 44,067 total positive cases with 4263 active cases.

The death toll in the neighbouring State is 831. Instructive it would be to note that Meghalaya which has a larger population has a lower number of positive cases and lower deaths.

All pointers for the State Government to take another look at the strategies that have been adopted to fight the pandemic.

This is where the latest notification of the Government is noteworthy.

Get vaccinated or do not come out, is the unsaid but loud message indicated in the notification.

At the same time, the Government would also do well to take another serious look at the home isolation model, given that the Delta variant of the virus is known to infect whole family members.

Manipur has already witnessed many members of the same family testing positive with some even reporting deaths of more than one family member due to the virus.

A serious relook at this model is needed and should be seriously considered.