From bad to worse
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: July 16, 2021 -

AFTER the second highest fatalities registered on Tuesday, Manipur eclipsing the previous record of 1032 single day cases within 24 hours implies that the battle against the pandemic will be an uphill task, if not impossible.

On May 19, the state had recorded 23 death cases, one more than the 22 fatalities reported after two and half months, whereas the highest single cases of 1104 on Wednesday cropped up at a time when the testing drive is most intense, thereby indicating that the different preventive measures being adopted to prevent casualties as well as contain the spread of the contagion have been futile so far.

The only silver lining in the clouds of worry of the Wednesday's spike in new positive cases was that the test positivity rate of 14.54 per cent was comparatively better than the one-day highest positivity rate of over 23 per cent recorded on May 22.

Though the difference in the positivity rates underscore increase in the number of samples tested in recent weeks, the surge in the daily cases corroborates the public apprehension that the pandemic situation has been worsening and more records would tumble, undesirably, in the coming days or weeks.

With daily positivity rate hovering well above the national average one could only wish that the authorities would find the magic formula to make the public believe that the virus will not cause further destruction to life and livelihood.

As the active caseload has jumped to 8210 and over 10 per cent of the patients are admitted to hospitals due to seriousness of their condition, the state is also likely to see grimmer situations.

Even more worrying aspect of the second wave is that the number of people contracting the infectious disease has been in the range of 60 to 100-plus in districts like Thoubal, Bishnupur, Kakching, Churachandpur and Tamenglong, where the healthcare facilities are not the best in the state.

In view of the recent deaths occurring within 24 to 48 hours of admission to hospitals and majority of patients either unvaccinated or having no comorbid conditions, it could also be construed that the authorities' appeal to the citizens to get tested at the slightest suspicion of contracting the disease and seek prompt medical attention has been well digested.

Till June 2020, the state had not reported any Covid-19 death and the number of positive cases was also far less than the rest of the country.

However, a year later Manipur attracting attention of the Central authorities suggests that the state government must plug all the loopholes and sustain the fight so as to prevent further damage from the pandemic.

The prevailing situation merits minute assessment by the government and to prevail upon the masses on the need for timely diagnosis and hospitalisation to ensure effective treatment and prevent casualties.

The public must be made aware that visiting the hospital as soon as one shows Covid-19 symptoms remains the best option.

Moreover, officials concerned should be reminded to regularly monitor availability of manpower and basic materials in all the districts in addition to the police authorities stringently enforcing the Covid-19 SOPs in all parts of the state.