Capital SP on Monday expressed his disquiet regarding the unfazed attitude of the denizens of Capital Complex during the earmarked relaxation period meant for buying bare essentials. SP’s dismay is understandable and can be viewed as a representative feeling, now nurtured by his counterparts all across the country. The rapid penetration of this seemingly untameable virus which has caused thousands of deaths and lakhs of infections have even failed to create ripples in minds of the Indians and the reason for this ‘boldness’ can be deciphered without much pains.

Staying at homes, the principal undertaking of the citizens now is to track the corona meters, currently available aplenty over various websites from morning till night. And while doing this, all have transformed themselves into self-proclaimed statisticians, making projections about figures arriving next day and most painfully, deriving a strange satisfaction that, compared to Italy, UK, Spain or the US which is the new hotspot, India is ‘light years’ behind and thus safe. But what an uncontrolled gathering during this period marked by a very high degree of vulnerability can mean and bring has been proven by the Delhi incident where a religious assembly has contributed to an addition of 91 new cases as on late Tuesday evening on a nationwide basis, triggering a massive manhunt to track the trail. It will be an onerous task even at normal time and at this hour when the country is on edge, irresponsibility by a few citizens will not only over-strain the administrative and medical care machineries but also escalate a mass fear. In Italy, which is also under a complete lockdown, what contributed handsomely to the crisis which has now gone absolutely out of control despite having such an acclaimed healthcare mechanism, is all well-known by now. It was the Feb 19 Champions League match which saw a spill-over attendance of 40000 plus and reportedly a third of Bergamo's population made the trip to Milan's San Siro stadium to cheer for Atlanta which was also attended by nearly 2,500 fans of the visiting Spanish club Valencia. The world has seen what has happened within a few weeks from then. Bergamo became the epicentre and Spain is facing the same misfortune.

The citizens of this ill-informed and ill-prepared nation must take a little pain to emboss in their minds a few aspects which are fundamental to the crisis. If community transmission, the most feared stage of the pandemic begins, there will be no route left to escape. High population density and a generally unhygienic pattern of life will only aggravate the situation-is the conclusion by the medical world.

Arunachal must religiously stick to all the lockdown advisories. It’s an extraordinary time needing extraordinary responsibilities. 

---

Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

<< Back to News List