'Whole State lockdown not required'
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 20 2020:
The experts stressed that clamping lockdown on the whole of Manipur is not required and patchy lockdown for 1 week, 2 weeks etc is not the solution.
They suggested that identified troubled spots of respective districts may be placed under complete lockdown for 14 days and take up "Corona strategy" to effectively contain the spread of the disease.
'Corona strategy'
The experts suggested ways to 'effectively' ascertain the current situation and curb further virus infection.
They emphasised the need for total survey at identified troubled/red zones.
i) Randomised Total Active Community Survey consisting 10% of sample population of Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Senapati and other relevant districts to know the extent of community spread is a must now.
There is enough health manpower for this and incentives may be awarded to them as encouragement from COVID-19 fund.
At the same time, health education campaigns should be taken in coordination with the local clubs from the fund for COVID-19 .
ii) Declare complete 14 day lockdown at identified troubled red zones in districts with strict lockdown rules enforcement.
iii) Total Survey: 2 times house to house total survey of all containment areas, 5-7 days apart, to find out any undetected COVID-19 cases.
iv) Total Testing: Similarly, 2 times testing, 5-7 days apart.
This is required as widely practised RT PCR testing called "Gold Standard" and "Rapid Antigen Testing" give many false negative results (RAT 20-30%) .
v) No home treatment and no home quarantine for the poor as they don't have proper facilities like separate bathrooms, separate living rooms, proper water supply etc.
Home treatment and home quarantine is one of the sources for spread of the virus in the community.
These people may be treated either in a hospital or in a designated COVID Care Centre.
vi) 14+14 day quarantine: All returnees + suspected persons be kept for 14 days in a QC and tested.
They should not be discharged without test results.
Treat +ve cases either at hospitals or COVID Care Centres.
All who tested -ve should be kept under another 14 day quarantine either at a Government designated QC or in a village community QC as done in Ukhrul and Kamjong districts.
In case of false -ve results, this may provide a safety net and prevent spread from asymptomatic patients.
vii) No contact tracing required now in the red districts.
What is required is a 2 time 'total' survey, 2 times total testing in all QZs & QCs.
Contact tracing should, however, continue in non-problematic districts.
viii) Weekly testing of COVID warriors -medical, police, media and volunteers engaged in quarantine zones/centres is a must now.
Government may enforce it by prioritising free testing for them.
ix) To prevent infection to frontline COVID worriers as well as cross-infection from them, police personnel on duty should be lodged in separate quarters/places.
Weekly roster of duty and weekly testing may be taken up to avoid present MR family complex type of spread.
They should be provided standard quality PPEs.
Similarly testing of frontline medical workers on a weekly basis is a must now.
All the frontline workers may be provided with the "preventive" HCQ tablet in the dose prescribed by ICMR guidelines.
x) Strict enforcement of mask use, 6 feet physical distancing, avoiding crowded places, frequent hand washing and other sanitisation and hygienic practises.
People should impose it on themselves and make these practices a habit in the interest of self, family and the community.
Strict punishment should be awarded to those flouting the safety norms.
xi) Information sharing and community participation in essential training in all health institutions with medical staff and NGOs.
2 courses per month of 2 days duration, 15 days apart, is recommended for the next 3 months, also from the COVID-19 fund.
xii) Normal functioning of OPDs in all Government and private hospitals to avoid unwanted deaths and suffering of the general public.
"Even AIIMS started normal OPD long back, we see no merit in limiting services of the 2 medical colleges" .
xiii) Needs detailed press release by the Medical Directorate.
The data may be given in a tabulated form, district-wise, containing all parameters including no-travel history, number of testing kits, PPES etc, MoHFW format may be used with required modification.
xiv) Stop discrimination: It is now becoming a problem and increasing day by day.
Instead of appreciating frontline COVID warriors, many are discriminating more and more of them.
If it continues unchecked, there may be a situation where very less or none of medical staff is available for COVID treatment, a few police personnel for law enforcement and no media personnel to disseminate information.
Govt and CSOs should fight this menace by providing proper health education and penalising those doing the same.
xv) Provide an insurance scheme of Rs 50 lakh as done in other States for frontline workers.
All representatives of the people, Government, its agencies and Health Department along with local clubs, NGOs and CSOs should work together leaving behind politics to curb the spread of the disease in time.
At present Manipur lacks "command, control and communication strategy" .
If all do not come together, Manipur may soon be flooded with community spread.
"Let us fight together and save Manipur," the experts said.
The eight public health experts include Dr Th Suresh Singh, ex-Director (Health); Dr L Shantikumar Singh, retired Professor, Community Medicine, JNIMS; Dr Ibochou Singh, retired State Malaria Officer and WHO Programme Specialist; Dr S Sukumar Singh, retired CMO; Dr H Nimaichand Singh, retired State Malaria Officer; Dr Ak Khamba, retired State TB Officer and Public Health Specialist; Dr H Priyokumar Singh, retired District AIDS Officer and Public Health Specialist and Dr AS Felix Khating, retired District AIDS Officer and Public Health Specialist.
They also wished speedy recovery of Dr Uthan, who tested positive for COVID-19 recently.
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