During the past couple of weeks, Covid scenario in the state particularly in the ICR has deteriorated and the CM-chaired meeting participated by Health Department officials on Thursday has discussed the containment strategies. Indeed, it’s time to reassess the existing plans, since, like most parts of the country, within a few weeks from now Arunachal will also be experiencing a change in weather pattern and the approaching winter may throw fresh challenges. As such, the state Health Department must take adequate guards beforehand and roll out combat strategies specific to winter requirements.

While the mystery surrounding the virus keeps lingering despite intense research efforts, global health experts have already issued the caveat that the approaching winter is going to be far tougher to face compared to the preceding months with a clear hint also of a second wave which is going to be of a bigger scale than the first. The medical-terminology-loaded explanation given by experts when broken in layman’s language is that as the epidemiological behaviour of coronavirus is much similar to other viruses that cause respiratory diseases during winter, high chances of the pandemic’s spread will remain. By now, it’s a known fact that the main respiratory organ i.e. lungs is the first target of the virus that subsequently triggers further immunological deteriorations. It’s also the primary reason why the mask has been considered a great weapon in Covid battle- the idea is to prevent the virus from reaching the lungs and it has been scientifically established that reduction of cases ranging between 36-50% can be achieved with its usage. It’s necessary also to keep in mind that it was exactly on December 31, 2019 in Wuhan when winter was at its peak, the virus was detected. With such a strong connection with winter, coupled with various scientific reports that the virus thrives more in this season, there is now the hunt for optimal strategies across countries with the main objective to come out with a perfect firewall that would shield the maximum of the populace.

The vaccine is going to come without doubt, but that’s certainly not before the onset of winter and as a best-case scenario, it might be early spring. The approaching months will hence be very critical and to meet the challenge, a winter-specific blueprint needs to be drawn. The state’s health administration must start preparations right now. And for citizens, the SOPs like wearing masks, using hand sanitizers and maintaining social distancing are to be more dutifully adhered to all throughout this winter.

Intense and prolonged awareness campaigns across all media platforms in this regard must be initiated by the state Health Department immediately, just as it had been in the early days of the pandemic.