SHILLONG: While Meghalaya has been lauded by the ICMR for keeping its COVID numbers to one of the lowest in the country so far, eternal vigilance is needed to ensure that the numbers continue to remain low.
While social distancing, masking, hand and personal hygiene and are said to effectively control the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the protocols don’t seem to be effective when it comes to those attending funerals or visiting the homes of the bereaved.
As per the standard operating procedure (SOP) to combat COVID-19, only immediate family members numbering not more than 20 are allowed to attend funerals. But this is observed in the breach. And there is no one to oversee that the SOP is maintained.
The Khasi social custom of paying respects to a bereaved family that has lost a loved one, defies the SOP of social distancing imposed by the government to combat COVID-19.
The body remains in the house for at least two days and during that time people come to pay their respects without a care for social distancing.
In a particular locality of the city where an elderly lady had passed away, people thronged her residence to pay their last respects. Amongst those that visited the home of the deceased were several elderly people well over the age of 70.
Clearly this is one social norm that even the Dorbar Shnong are not able to strictly enforce without sounding cruel. After all, the death of any person within a locality is treated with deference, more so if that person is elderly.
Ironically, during the early days of the pandemic, a team of police personnel were going around to create awareness about the do’s and don’ts to combat COVID-19.
They happened to stop a few metres away from the home of a bereaved family and started announcing over the loud speaker as to what is to be done and what not to be done to fight COVID-19.
As is the practice many people were sitting in a field adjacent to the home of the deceased listening to the police announcements but they continued to sit close to each other and without their masks on. Not less than a hundred people attended the funeral. The irony of the situation was not lost on the police team communicating the SOPs but they could not do a thing. After all this is the brief of the Dorbar Shnong.
A senior government official when pointed out that this social practice could pose inherent risks as people violate social distancing norms said that it is a social behavioural change that is urgently needed to be internalised by the community because COVID-19 poses a real threat.
Considering that Guwahati has gone back to a lockdown because people violated COVID-19 protocols, particularly the social distancing bit, it is important for Meghalaya to remain vigilant. By and large Meghalaya’s strict testing protocols at all entry points to the state have kept the COVID numbers under control. But there can be no let up on vigilance within the state in social observances that hitherto involved community participation.