As the week comes to an end and it’s just a little over 7 days left for the third phase of the nationwide lockdown to end, the overall situation in the country can be called nothing comforting. Throughout the past five days, looking over Covid-19 counts, it seems the old saying ‘records are made only to be broken’ has been proven true and as on late Friday evening, it’s well past the 56,000 mark in number of positive cases and touching the 1900 mark in number of deaths is just a matter of time. At this disconcerting backdrop, a statement coming from none other than the AIIMS director that there are high chances of touching the peak in number of cases of infection during the approaching four to six weeks i.e. May end or June middle has once again reminded that the country must remain ready to face, perhaps the most crucial part of the battle.
It’s now the time for relaxations which have been brought in over a large part of the country and a core feature has been that the persons who have been left stranded in places distant from their homes have been given the green signal and their homecoming process has just started. Preparations and hectic activities by states to absorb their own people are on and Arunachal Pradesh has also devoted itself to make the process protocol-oriented. In this regard, the caveats that have been reiterated over a number of times by virology experts and WHO need to translated into practice. It must be taken into knowledge once more that the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that have origin in these scientific findings and advices have a special mention of the ‘compulsory quarantine’ aspect of returnees and their proper diagnosis to make sure they are not potential carriers of the lethal virus. Over the next few days Arunachal will have to be extra alert about this and the warning that a slightest dilution of this part will negate the gains so far achieved after hard and prolonged collective efforts, must be kept in mind and reflected in actions. Quarantine centres catering to the needs of returnees must not suffer from any deficiency in all terms including medical needs, if any. Right from the check gates to the doors of the quarantine centres, it will be the efficacy and professionalism of the multiple layers of the filtering mechanism that will determine the state’s Covid-19 status of tomorrow.
Arunachal must view the coming couple of weeks as the final part of the battle. The same tempo that helped in clinching the green tag must be kept alive without fail  at this last yet most-crucial lap.

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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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