Time to enforce strict Covid-19 measures
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Though not a single Omicron case was detected in Assam, yet there has been over a 100 per cent rise in COVID-19 cases in the past three days.
While the COVID positivity rate in the state was 0.38 per cent on December 30, 2021, it shot up to 1.29 per cent on January 4, 2022. Fresh Covid-19 positive cases in the state were 101 on December 30, 2021. It rose to 475 on January 4, 2022.
Unfortunately, people have let their guards down and hardly follow COVID-appropriate behaviour these days. Recently, the Assam Government issued a fresh SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) but took little steps to ensure its proper implementation.
GMCH Superintendent Dr Abhijit Sarma said, "The Covid-19 cases have spurted all of a sudden in the state. However, there is no Omicron case in the state. Caution, not panic, is a must. We see people with masks. However, wearing a mask improperly gives no protection."
The SOP allows 60 people per hour in iconic religious places and 40 people per hour in others. But more than this fixed number of people visited religious places, especially on the first day of the New Year. Hundreds of people visited the Assam State Zoo-cum-Botanical Garden in the last few days. The authorities took no steps whatsoever to ensure adherence to the SOP. According to the SOP, public transport vehicles should not allow passengers to travel by standing. But at any given time, the city buses in Guwahati are always crowded beyond capacity. Such buses ply under the noses of the police. They do not take any action.
"Most people have stopped wearing masks. After taking two doses of the vaccine, people think that they need no masks. However, even after getting two doses of the COVID vaccine, a person can still get infected by the virus. Wearing masks in public is an absolute must," said a senior GMCH doctor.
The SOP says that any person not wearing a mask or spitting in public places shall have to cough up fines to the tune of Rs 1,000. But the administration is not keeping a strict vigil in public places, especially markets and shopping malls, to ensure that people follow COVID-appropriate behaviour.
"Going by this lax attitude of the people and administration, it almost seems that we are inviting a surge in COVID-19 cases," said the doctor.
The strict measures against drunk-and-rash driving on December 31 and January 1 are commendable. Such measures are a must to enforce COVID-appropriate behaviour to avoid any possibilities of the third wave of the virus.
Education Minister Ranoj Pegu said, "We have not thought of closing physical classes in schools. We have opened schools following the guidelines of the Health Department. If the Health Department issues any instruction, we will have to obey that. However, our effort will be to continue classes without any loss."
An official from the Home department said, "We have prepared the SOP for the greater interest of the public. It is the responsibility of the public to adhere to the SOP. The implementing authorities also need to monitor the adherence to the SOP."
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