Given the alarming trend to balloon the COVID-19 positive cases in the past few days in Assam, occasional lockdown in the State has rightly been resorted to. This will no doubt go a long way in arresting the virus and enabling gradual return of normalcy, provided the government cares to have the intended gains from the lockdown. First and foremost, the government must ensure sufficient supply of essential commodities and delivery of the same as well to all sections of citizens of the State. The lockdown must be utilized to erect more treatment centres and also to improve the public health infrastructure of the state. The patients with mild sickness should be lodged in the treatment centres and the serious ones should be treated in well-equipped hospitals. Hence, there will remain no point to question the effectiveness of the lockdown which is often deemed to be a devil in disguise for the hapless masses belonging to the lower economic strata. If the action plans targeted by the government fail to serve the very purpose of the lockdown to contain the virus, our fight against it will surely take a severe blow in near future. It needs to be understood well that lockdown is no cure for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dipen Gogoi,
Jorhat