Editor
Through this letter, I would like to bring to the attention of the concerned authorities that Shillong Law College Shillong has refused to shut down. It continues to remain open and has asked all faculty and staff to continue attending college thereby blatantly disregarding the order issued by the Education Department in this regard, thereby putting the health and safety of everyone at stake. All the teachers have been asked to work inside the staff room which is very small. This violates the social distancing advisory of the Government of India. This puts not only the life of the staff and faculty at risk but also that of the whole community. The faculty have been threatened with show-cause notices and are told that they may even lose their jobs if they refuse to comply with the directives of the College or if they raise a hue and cry on this issue. As the Covid19 continues to create havoc in other countries and has affected many in other states of the country, we feel lucky that there has not been any positive case reported in our state yet. However through the irresponsible and reckless actions of the principal Shillong Law College, God forbid that situation may change. I therefore urge upon the District Administration to intervene in this matter at the earliest for the health and safety of the whole community.
Yours etc.,
A concerned faculty
Name withheld on request
Violation of Govt advisory
Editor,
Through your daily we would like to bring to the notice of the State Government that the daily Archery Sports (Teer) still continues despite the suo-moto statement of the Health Minister that the Government of Meghalaya has ordered shutdown of schools and colleges and cancellation and postponement of major sporting events in order to avoid mass gatherings so as to enforce social distancing which is a must to reduce the CoronaVirus transmission. All organisers of fairs and festivals have been advised to postpone or cancel their events. The State Government has also asked people not to visit tourist spots, and to maintain hand hygiene but despite all of these notifications, the archery in that unsanitary, filthy ground at Polo still continues. It is a perfect ground for breeding all kinds of bacteria and viruses where you can see masses of people with unhygienic personal habits crammed up right to the main road that most people would not dare to cross even when covered with our N95 masks.
We therefore ask the Government to kindly do the needful and take the Organisers to task for such irresponsible behaviour. There is immediately need to disinfect the whole area for the safety of Shillong.
Yours etc.,
Angela Syiemlieh, Baia Nongbri
& Christina Marbaniang
Via email
Social initiative by responsible citizen
Editor,
While walking through GS Road today which is also my home and business location, & also via Whatsapp media, I witnessed that one of the shops “Motirams” had put up a notice on their shutter that the shop would remain closed in order to help combat Covid19. This really moved me and I found it worthwhile to bring it to your notice how these decades old business establishments are showing the true spirit of social responsibility towards their fellow citizens by taking this bold initiative of shutting down their establishment indefinitely in the best interests of every individual and are contributing their bit to combat the spread of the novel CoronaVirus.
The important part to note is that while all establishments are facing forced closure and thereby are being compelled by the government to do so, this one shopkeeper has bravely come forward and voluntarily announced that his shop is indefinitely closed due to Covid19. The need of the hour is to encourage more such initiatives by the entire society so that we unitedly save ourselves from being defeated by the CoronaVirus and being beaten down by the worst times the world is currently facing.
Yours etc.,
Rahul Bajaj
Via email
Strategies to contain pandemics
Editor,
All over the globe, people are trying their best to protect themselves from the coronavirus. COVID-19 has completely upended lives across the planet. The virus death toll has been surging world wide. While the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions are the hardest hit by the virus, the WHO warned that young people also were vulnerable. Today the world stands on the edge of the precipice. A pandemic would spread quickly and silently. It would reach multiple countries and thwart containment. It would exploit networks of human activities and shake financial markets. As the world struggles to respond to COVID-19, we must realise the nature of reality. Pandemics are on the rise and we need to contain the process that enables their thriving and emergence. Ebola, SARS, MERS and COVID-19 have been linked to wildlife and they jump to people when we make contact with wildlife.
The rise in the number of zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 is linked to loss of forests and biodiversity. Deforestation and habitat fragmentation or modification and the subsequent loss of structural diversity can lead to changes in human contact rates with a variety of pathogens and disease vectors.
However, the world’s strategy for dealing with pandemics is inadequate. We treat pandemics as a disaster-response issue. We wait for them to happen and hope a vaccine or drug can be developed quickly. Even as COVID-19 rages, there still is no vaccine available for the SARS virus nor for HIV or Zika.
In order to combat pandemics, we must treat them as a public health issue. We must start working on prevention in addition to responses. Our first goal must be to strengthen our armoury against potential mass epidemics. As COVID-19, other pathogens are ready to emerge in future. Broad-spectrum vaccines and drugs must be developed for the fight against pandemics. Entire group of pathogens must be targetted instead of individual ones.
We must be alert and prepared for the next pandemic attack. We must identify all possible sources of pandemics and combat them using effective vaccines.
Yours etc.,
Venu GS
Via email