For the world in general and India in particular, it has been a realization from the early days of COVID pandemic that laxity in personal hygiene and disregard of other SOPs will lead to sure disaster. After more than a year the first case was detected in Kerala and with the curve flattening in a way beyond expectation, overconfidence has become the order of the day and this has invaded the mindset of a large number of people. This is evident from the return of the virus with a bang in Maharashtra and Gujarat, compelling the experts to sound the alarm bell for one more time. These developments should serve as warning for Arunachal Pradesh now engaged in a number of festivities.
On Sunday Maharashtra recorded over 4,000 cases after a gap of 39 days, while Mumbai reported over 600 cases after exactly a month. The fearful figures of Mumbai have made a return as its doubling time that was almost 600 days around a month and a half ago has now dropped to 479 days. The picture in Gujarat is also getting gloomier and night curfews have been imposed in four major cities there and its Chief Minister Vijay Rupani testing positive for coronavirus hours after fainting on stage during an election rally in Vadodara has sent jitters. Health experts while reiterating to reinforce the firewalls that are currently less stronger have suggested to increase the trusted tools of tracing and testing and strict adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour by all. There is no way at hand at the moment since there is still nearly five and a half months left for the common people to get the vaccine doses, as per the declared timeline of the Union Health Ministry. But the unanimity in the medical fraternity that explains the return of Covid in Maharashtra and Gujarat is that it’s due to the super spreaders namely parties, vacations, get-togethers and other social interactions. Presumably, to get respite from the monotony of prolonged indoor existence for almost a year, all guards have been dropped. The behaviour has been more expressive particularly after the arrival of the vaccine. The forgetfulness that Phase I of the vaccination is going to cover only a small percentage of the population which is far too meagre to trigger herd immunity has gripped the country’s people. Not only there has been gross violation of social distancing norms, wearing masks has now been reduced to an optional choice. Certainly, things wouldn’t have been so gloomy in these states if protocols were not sacrificed.
The state which is now on a festive spree should learn from these unwanted developments. Participate with caution and enjoy responsibly.

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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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