Strict enforcement of SOPs still essential
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: October 25, 2021 -
The rise in the state's test positivity rate (TPR) to 5.88 per cent on Saturday compared to 3.37 per cent recorded the previous day shows that vaccination and Covid appropriate behaviour are two things that will help break the transmission chain of the novel coronavirus.
From a stimulating drop in the TPR to below 5 per cent for over a week and low daily cases in the same period, the TPR of 5.88 per cent recorded on Saturday coupled with the number of infected people crossing the 100-mark should be of concern to all sane individuals as everybody is now well aware about how destructive the pandemic has been considering the fact that already over 1900 people have fallen prey to the contagious disease not to speak of the extreme hardships endured when livelihood activities had to be ceased to contain the virus.
To the government authorities, which are probably fixated on maintaining social stability in the run-up to the upcoming assembly elections, the latest TRP and daily cases might not be perturbing as the state had already experienced more horrible days when the number of daily infections used to be well above the national average.
However, majority of the districts continuing to log Covid cases every day could be construed as confirmation that the state authorities are yet to diligently execute the Centre's advice issued back in July to focus on the five-fold strategy for effective management of the contagion and initiate relaxation of restrictions in a carefully calibrated manner.
Contrary to the health experts' words of caution that there is no room of leniency unless the TRP remains below 5 per cent for at-least a fortnight, the government of Manipur announced a slew of relaxations since mid-September when the average infection rate hovered near the 10 per cent mark.
Though decision to lift the restrictions was centred on ameliorating suffering of the citizens, there were strong apprehensions that permitting livelihood activities would be misconstrued as triumph over the virus.
This fear is most visible at public places, markets in particular, where people could be seen letting down the" guard as if the pandemic is over and the law enforcement personnel not caring to enforce the basic safety protocols of wearing face mask.
Thus, it could be safely stated that increasing public nonchalance to Covid appropriate behaviour would be the primary reason in case the state witnesses fresh surge in the number of positive cases.
If at all the pandemic situation worsens then it is obvious that workload of the healthcare workers would increase and there would be confrontations between the medical personnel and the patient parties, as had been reported during the peak of the second wave.
By now, authorities concerned should be well aware that there is lack of public maturity and compliance with the basic health practices, both considered essential to overcome the pandemic.
It is desired that in view of the evolving situation, government machinery strictly enforce the basic safety guidelines so as help in at-least keep the situation under control.
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