BHUBANESWAR: Despite the warning of a second wave, people have lowered guard by not wearing masks and not following social distancing norms. And those who are wearing the mask either hang it below the chin or on the neck, thus not covering their mouth or nose.
“In Odisha, though the number of Covid cases has gone down, it has not become zero. If people, do not take precautions, then the second wave will come sooner than expected and may be more severe,” said Dr Ashok Mohapatra, former director of AIIMS-Bhubaneswar and vice-chancellor of SOA-University. “The situation is already worse in Delhi. The drop in temperature could spur a rise in infection,” he added.
Odisha has witnessed a significant fall in fresh Covid-19 cases in the last few days. After a lockdown for the initial months, people have started working towards revival of livelihood and business, but are not following Covid-19 regulations in the process.
“We have to learn living with the virus as it is not going to leave us soon. But if we stay home for more days then we may die of hunger and poverty instead of the disease. So many people are coming out by taking the risk,” said Santosh Kumar Sahu, a shopkeeper at Unit-I market.
Even though most shops have asked people to wear masks and pasted stickers of “no mask no entry”, people continue to behave irresponsibly. “In open markets there is absolutely no social distancing. Some people feel that many people are not coming for testing leading to the drop in fresh Covid cases. The high-risk populations will take necessary precautions but youngsters are flouting the guidelines. They should be heavily penalised,” said Nirmal Kumar Dash, a retired government officer.
The state government is yet to reopen educational institutions and temples owing to the likely second wave. “The cases have reduced but there is no scope of complacency. Strictly following safety guidelines is the only way to fight the Covid-19 virus. If people behave responsibly and follow all safety precautions then reopening of religious places and educational institutions will not be an issue,” said Dr Jayant Panda, technical spokesperson of health and family welfare department.