The geopolitical positioning of the Northeast, with very few official entry points and that too only from the west, had made the task of insulating this region from the global Covid-19 pandemic relatively easier. But the effort of our health departments, especially that of Assam, had been far from satisfactory. No doubt, compared to other States in the nation, the official statistics of 220 thousand afflictions and around 1120 deaths seem low, as compared with, say 3.34 million afflictions and 57,000 deaths in Maharashtra, 1.16 million afflictions in Kerala or 13,000 deaths in Karnataka. Yet greater monitoring of the few entry points, and vigorous testing and contract tracing, could have kept figures even lower. A more proactive approach by the administration towards ensuring that people wear masks and maintain social distance in public places would have also served such an objective. The lack of such an approach has been return to an environment in which seemingly the threat from this lethal virus had ceased to exist, and people were seen breaching Covid-19 protocol with gay abandon! Then, of course, came the elections and the very politicians who had posed before TV cameras as Covid-19 warriors and mouthed out homilies on taking precautions themselves had discarded all safeguards. The end result has been the renewed concern that, like the rest of India, a second wave is likely to hit this State.
The first signs are already here, with an increase in the number of Covid-19 infection cases being registered and a few deaths from the virus reported. Reportedly, hospitals dedicated to treat Covid-19 patients in Guwahati are already at their full capacity, prompting authorities to reopen other facilities which had earlier been used as Covid-19 units. With the Bohag Bihu festival upon us, the possibility of infections and deaths due to people packing the Bihutolis has increased by leaps and bounds. Surprisingly, the health authorities have simply asked Bihu Sanmilan organizers to adopt Covid-19 standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the State Government, and little else! Some of the measures outlined in the SOP are impracticable and ridiculous – little wonder that in this metro the Brihattar Guwahati Bihu Sanmilani Samannayrakshi Samiti had staged a sit-in demonstration demanding pragmatic changes in the SOP. The biggest matter of concern in the prevailing situation is that, with the voting over, the State has to wait for almost a month before announcement of the results and a new Government is sworn in. This has induced a certain degree of laxity in the government departments which might hinder efforts to vigorously tackle any renewed outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. While one hopes that the second wave does not become as deadly as the first, no one can contradict the reality that the need of the hour is speedy and effective implementation of a preventive strategy.
