At a time when the Covid-19 pandemic seems to have gathered renewed momentum in the country, two important observations have added a new dimension to the argument that it might just be the ‘tip of the iceberg’. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has predicted that by February 2021 there might be a daily addition of 2.87 lakh positive cases in India in case the vaccine fails to arrive as a rescuer and WHO on Tuesday has admitted that airborne spread of  SARS-CoV-2 virus cannot be ruled out. Much of the debate over these two inputs in the existing and fast-developing Covid scenario lies ahead. But, no country including India is in a position to waive them off so easily either as ‘overestimation’ or ‘unscientific claim’ as the explosion of cases is a strong suggestion that there must be something more in the destructive qualities of the virus that are still to be detected and documented. Taking all these findings into account, even though it will sound as a boring repetition, the preventive protocols are thus not only emerging more relevant, but also gradually becoming the only shields of survival.

 

Although the MIT study may apparently suggest something of a kind of ‘blown out of proportion’, there is little scope to question its technical soundness and by any standard it’s a comprehensive one. It has not resorted to any outlandish methodology and has chosen the multi-country modified SEIR (Susceptible, Exposed, Infectious, Recovered) model, which is accepted as a standard mathematical tool for infectious diseases and carries the prediction not only for India, but the would-be Covid-19 transmission picture in 84 countries covering 4.75 billion people which is almost 60% of world population. WHO, meanwhile, has changed its stand and after sticking to the theory for months that the novel coronavirus is transmitted only via respiratory droplets from an infected person through coughs or sneezes, has said that chances of airborne spread cannot be ruled out, particularly in public settings. Research on the issue is on and if it comes out to be scientifically accurate, the ramifications will be extreme for India, only because the population density is abnormally high which thereby means that there remains every chance for faster spread of the virus, than the current anticipated levels.

The only solution to the impending danger is a combination of masks and social distancing. There is also a need to redefine what should be the standard quality of masks, indoor and outdoor and the parameter of social distancing as well after emergence of the above observations.

The current lockdown in state capital should be understood as an ad hoc measure and a comprehensive combat of the pandemic can be effected only through the above SOPs. All the hard-earned benefits of lockdown(s) in the state will vanish in no time if voluntary cooperation from citizens is absent.  

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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

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