Nagpur: Though the daily cases have increased in the range of 100 to 200 since the last few days, people seem to have forgotten the threat that novel coronavirus is posing.
Despite the use of mask in public and Covid distancing still being advised in every government advisory, citizens continue to give two hoots to these norms. Hugging and handshakes, which were discouraged in the wake of Covid spread, have resumed among citizens.
Doctors say any mention of use of masks, following hand hygiene or maintaining Covid distancing are taken with scorn by the citizens these days.
NMC’s chief medical officer Dr Sanjay Chilkar said, “Those who have been infected by Covid may not forget it for their entire life. Those who are still not infected are showing carelessness. Not much restrictions are there on the outskirts of the city and citizens believe there is nothing to worry within the city as well. It is a misunderstanding. The pandemic is still there and people must follow the protocol,” he said.
IGGMCH department of pulmonology head and professor Dr Radha Munje said people may not have forgotten Covid but they think it won’t affect them. “People should avoid going to crowded places. Same self-discipline of waiting in queue with Covid distancing, which was seen during lockdown, must be followed. People are risking their lives when they don’t follow these norms. They are also risking lives of their family members,” she said.
Consultant pulmonologist of Kingsway Hospital Dr Vikram Rathi said in the beginning a lot of precautions were taken. “As cases went down, people lowered their guard and became complacent. They are not following adequate precaution,” he said
“Citizens believe that Covid is not such serious disease and therefore we are still fully unable to prevention the spread of infection. Citizens need to change their mindset to tackle Covid,” said Anasuya Kale Chhabrani of NGO TogetherWeCan, which has been working for Covid patients.
Senior psychiatrist at Regional Mental Hospital Dr Praveen Navkhare feels there are a couple of factors responsible for change in citizens’ response to Covid norms now as compared to last year. “As Indians, we are used to rules being imposed upon us rather than we ourselves choosing to follow them on our own. Second is overcoming the fear of death. Earlier, everyone feared death due to Covid,” he said.
Dr Navkhare added that some people are under impression that vaccine is a cure. “Many are not aware that vaccination is for prevention,” he said.
Besides these, of late, different issues are on people’s mind. “Attention is shifted towards issues ranging from national importance to ‘how to retain present job’. This attention shift from 2020 when it was only Covid could be one more reason,” he said.