Drastic drop in new cases : Still stick to the SOPs
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 01, 2022 -

The virus is wily, tricky, evil and seems to know how to catch mankind offguard and so even as its spread has come down drastically across the country in the last many days, it has been wreaking havoc in some Asian countries such as South Korea, China and Vietnam.

In Manipur too, the spread of the virus has come down drastically and from a high of more than 10 percent daily positivity rate some months back today it has come down to below the 1 percent mark in the last couple of days.

The number of active cases, as of March 30, was 34 with Churachandpur today reporting nil active cases.

Daily new cases too have come down to the single digit mark in the last couple of days, clearly indicating that the spread of the virus has waned.

Contrast this to the situation two or even one month back when Manipur used to report daily new cases in the three figure mark and clearly this is a marked improvement in the scenario.

However things cannot be taken for granted by any stretch of the imagination. Until the Indian Council of Medical Research says so, let everyone continue to stick to the Covid Appropriate Behaviour and stick to the call to maintain social distancing, avoid large crowd, always wear a face mask while out and frequently wash one's hands with soap and water.

These words of caution are not without merit.

Cases have come down and Manipur has not seen or heard Covid related deaths in the last couple of days but remember the days before the second wave of the virus hit the people with so much ferocity and there is a lesson to be learnt here.

These words of caution are sounded in the backdrop of the fact that it was just some time back that researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur had suggested that India could see a fourth wave of the pandemic starting from about June 22 to mid August.

This suggestion should be seen in the backdrop of the surge of new cases in some Asian countries, as noted earlier, and remember COVID-19 was just a virus at Wuhan at China and Italy before it descended on India with so much ferocity, particularly in the second wave.

Without a doubt, vaccination is the key to be ready for any eventuality so even as new cases have waned and there have been no reports of new deaths, it should not keep the people away from getting themselves vaccinated.

This is where people, especially of the hill districts need to be convinced to get themselves vaccinated, despite a wane in the number of new cases.

Kangpokpi, Ukhrul and Kamjong are three districts which are causes of concern, and this is where more efforts are in line to reach out to the people and get themselves vaccinated.

The sharp dip in the number of new cases and no deaths report in the last couple of days should not mean that the virus has been completely neutralised as it is running riot in some Asian countries as pointed out earlier.

And remember Manipur started off with just one case in March of 2020 and recall how soon the virus spread.

Remember too how the leikai vigilantes took it upon themselves to keep the virus away by blocking all roads and literally imposing a type of public curfew as news of the lone positive case started doing the round.

Come to 2022 and while situation has definitely improved, remember some experts from IIT Kanpur have pointed to the distinct possibility of a fourth wave sometime in June to August this year and this is not the time to take chances.

The virus is down but don't confuse this with being out.