Editor
These few days have been really tough for our state, especially for our government leaders, health workers, the Police Department, the CRPF personnel and the citizenry due to the pandemic. Besides worrying about when the shops would open so one can purchase few kilograms of rice, I became all the more restless these days, thinking whether I have come in contact with X or Y prior to March 24 or even later before the first Covid+ive case was tested. While, I appreciate the Chief Minister for his daily briefings about the Covid-19 cases in our State, I personally feel he is not doing justice to the citizens and to halt the Covid19 spread. For example, his Twitter account on April 21 reads, “One Family friend of the first Covid19 patient has also been tested positive. The person is already in quarantine. The total number is at 12. One deceased and other 11 are stable.” Good news! Every one of the 11 is stable, but how do I know that I have not come in contact with any one of those who tested positive? Who is the person who tested positive? Did my friend met her/him? Did she/he come to my locality? Was she/he the one with whom I sat in a vehicle prior to the lockdown? I am more worried of the unknown positive carrier. I know it is against medical ethics and patients’ privacy to reveal the name, but for Covid19 which is so contagious can there be an exception to the rule so that at least those who came in contact with the positive person can also be tested?
One reason cited by professionals about not revealing the name of the patient is to avoid stigmatization especially on social media. If this is the case what are those in the cyber crime branch of the Police doing? There is nothing that can be hidden on social media provided we know coding. I believe those who are appointed as cyber crime detectors are professionals in that job, then why not catch the culprit and give necessary punishments? But for the sake of the patient’s secrecy we cannot put the whole state and the public at risk and I think for a case such as covid19, the more we know who is tested positive the better we can co-operate with the government and come out for testing. Besides, Covid19 is an issue impacting everyone; hence everyone has the right to know so that the chain of infection can be broken. I also urge the patients to be prudent in this regard and the public to respect them by not maligning them.
Yours etc.,
Michael Makri
Shillong – 3
Covid19 challenges
Editor,
Views and opinions have already appeared in the media about the dreaded covid-19 pandemic which has taken many precious lives across the globe, India included. The virus continues to claim thousands of human lives every day even as research scientists are struggling to find the right vaccine to prevent and cure the deadly virus. In Meghalaya the virus first appeared on April 13, 2020 and claimed its first victim the next day. By the time the victim was buried another 12 people were found Covid- positive. The virus seems to be very active but God forbid it will not become virulent here as Meghalaya’s population is small. During the last 31 days of the lockdown Meghalaya’s economy has overstretched its limits and affected the supply chain. Again God forbid the number of patients will not increase and also the number of deaths because with just 12 positive cases and one death the whole government machinery is at it wits end.
Where to test and quarantine those suspected of being infected and how to treat the positive cases, because as of now the infrastructure is limited, are causes for worry. Even disposal of just one dead body was a nightmare! Hence, it is of utmost importance to immediately put in place a Covid-19 high powered committee to look into the whole gamut of planning, supervising, procurement, delivery, supply systems, disposal etc. Again, on the disposal of dead bodies there are still some issues to be ironed out because as can be sensed, there will be opposition from some quarters. Intensive awareness on Covid19 is required not only in towns but in villages as well because we do not know how things will pan out.
Even in other parts of India disposal of bodies of those who died of covid-19 was met with stiff resistance. On the part of the general public of Meghalaya it is our bounden duty to cooperate with the government and strictly adhere to the covid-19 health protocols. With regards to the Dorbar Shong their roles cannot be underestimated. Sadly the government remembers them only during crisis such as this and during law and order problems. Enabling legislation is urgently called for to legally empower them to be partners in village levels of administration and government because the Dorbar Shnong are here to stay, whether or not we want them.
Yours etc.
Philip Marwein,
Sr. Journalist,
Shillong-2.
In defence of Sailo-Ryntathing family
Editor,
We must appreciate Michael Syiem’s letter to the Shillong Times (April 22, 2020) titled Covid 19 in Meghalaya. Questioning, analysing and debating the issues of the day is in public interest. This discourse must be free of emotion and bias, as his letter demonstrates. Unfortunately, many of the details are not known or divulged, so we can only base our discussion on the information in the public domain, depending mostly on government communiques and credible news sources.
Dr Sailo’s illness seems to have taken a sudden turn for the worse and he succumbed unfortunately within 2-3 days of the onset of symptoms. When he had the early symptoms of the disease, he may not have associated them with Covid, even though he is a medical doctor. The early symptoms are non-specific, explainable by many infections and allergies. One is only expected to have a high index of suspicion, if he/she has been in contact with a known positive case. This was not the situation.
Even if he was worried about Covid, he would not have qualified for testing under the then ICMR guidelines which mandated testing only for high-risk contacts of a known case, or people with flu-like symptoms located in clusters and migration centres. At that time, there was not a single case in Meghalaya. Another criterion is testing all patients with pneumonia. It looks like his test was done on this basis, which for him was in the last stage of treatment.
It is now presumed, even though there is an unwarranted silence from the Government, that the pilot in the family is negative for the virus (RT-PCR test). If a blood test is done on him for antibodies and it is positive, it will indicate that he had the infection earlier. The negative RT-PCR test combined with the positive antibody test indicates that he was probably no longer infective when he came to Shillong. He also presumably was in self-isolation as required and was checked on as per the quarantine protocol.
Dr Sailo may have got infected from a patient who was asymptomatic for Covid and met the doctor for another ailment. It may not have been from a family member, they all got it from him. Even if these assumptions are wrong, it does not matter much. Identifying the first case, i.e. the one who gave the virus to Dr Sailo, is not that important. The public health measures remain the same.
It seems to me that there was no intentional or unintentional wrongdoing by the family.
Yours etc.,
Glenn C. Kharkongor
Via email