Double curfew to tackle virus menace
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: July 17, 2021 -

THE government's decision to enforce 'total' curfew for 10 days with effect from July 18 in addition to the existing curfew makes it crystal clear that the Covid-19 pandemic has been unnerving the authorities and making them desperately seek ways and means for keeping the situation at a manageable level.

With the cumulative number of positive cases in the state crossing the 80,000 mark, active caseload rapidly advancing towards the 9000 mark, recovery rate remaining at 87.86 per cent against the nation's 98.65 per cent as on Thursday and double digit Covid fatalities, etc, all these figures are certain to make the government feel that the contagion is spiralling out of control and would be aggravating further if the public do not realise that the virus does not discriminate anybody but affects all who are hesitating to either get vaccinated or flouting the safety protocols.

As public complacency has been one of the factors for the second wave of the pandemic spreading like wildfire in the state, it seems that persisting with plainly appealing to the people to follow Covid appropriate behaviour is unlikely to bring any positive result.

Rather, the masses need to be driven home the point that those who managed to survive the viral infection is due to timely treatment and efforts of the healthcare service providers but there is no guarantee that doctors and nurses would be showing the same level of compassion in case the number of patients continues to rise at the on-going rate and overwhelm the state's fragile healthcare system.

They need to be reminded that the medical personnel have been at the forefront of battling the pandemic for the last many months and they too are vulnerable to become weary and complacent.

Doctors and nurses catering to the needs of hundreds of new patients on a daily basis speak volume about the huge responsibility they have been shouldering ever since the onset of the pandemic, especially in the devastating second wave.

Regardless of their dedicated service ensuring reunion of over 70,000 patients with their loved ones, more than 1300 infected people succumbing to the contagion till date suggests that the virus has been merciless.

As such, it is understandable that the government has decided to put in place stringent measures to break the transmission chain before it is too late through imposition of curfew and deployment of central forces to force the people follow the containment steps at any cost.

Nevertheless, imposition of the so-called total curfew amid the virulent Delta variant of the virus wreaking havoc will not have any significant impact in curbing the contagion in case the law enforcement personnel fail to vigorously enforce the same.

For instance, a similar 10-day curfew was imposed in the virus hotspot seven districts from May 8 but it couldn't make any notable difference to the pandemic situation.

With exception of only a day when the state reported a lowly 330 new cases during the curfew period, May month saw the second highest single day cases, highest daily positivity rate and record number of deaths.

Thus, only time will tell how effective the 10-day total curfew from July 18 would be helpful in checking infection and preventing fatalities.

It will also be interesting how the government will mitigate the plight and suffering of the economically underprivileged section of the society, for whom dodging the security forces to sustain their livelihood would definitely be the top priority.