The gradual easing up of the lockdown restrictions has brought about a worrisome change in people’s behaviour. A majority of them have become complacent behaving as though we are all suddenly immune to COVID-19 or that the virus has vanished from the face of the earth.
Many are either not wearing a mask or wearing it improperly exposing their nose and lips and are mingling with crowds without maintaining the mandatory physical distance.
The number of new cases is relentlessly on the rise and the infection apparently is directly proportional to individual ‘negligence’. The roads are full, the public places crowded and people oblivious to the dangers of the virus.
Penalty
The local municipal authorities came up with strict punitive measures to deal with the ‘defiant brigand’ who refuse to wear masks or brazenly violate other norms. The message is loud and clear – nobody has the right to endanger the lives of others. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation announced a fine of ₹100 for not wearing a mask and for not maintaining physical distance. For spitting in public places, the fine may go up to ₹1,000.
The fact that the civic staff collected a sum of ₹1,47,400 from 1,000-odd offenders proves the casual attitude of people towards such a crucial issue.
Preparedness
The government machinery, meanwhile, has been focusing on key factors like medical preparedness, mobilisation of human resources, adequate and effective containment measures and quarantining issues.
Keeping up the morale of the staff engaged in the COVID-related work has been a major challenge, says Krishna district Collector A. Md. Imtiaz.
“We are doing everything possible to reach out to the needy in this difficult situation. But the fact that the ailment is new and even the medical professionals are unable to predict how the virus would behave is adding to the problem,” he says.
The State is in the forefront as far as preparedness is concerned, says Mr. Imtiaz, explaining how it conducted 7,800 tests per million, the highest in the country and how the four ‘T’s – Tracking, Tracing, Testing and Treating have given the medical authorities the strength to fight the virus effectively.
“In March first week, when coronavirus cases started surfacing, we had only one lab, today we have 15 of them. Similarly, we had started out with a target of setting up 10,000 hospital beds to treat COVID-10 patients, but we have 50,000 beds now.”
Balance
Livelihood and economic issues forced lockdown relaxation and the situation demands that people need to live with the virus and concurrently take development plans and policies ahead. For this balance to happen, a very careful navigation is essential as one can’t afford to throw caution to the wind.