Health Minister, AL Hek’s public declaration that Covid19 will spike in the next two months of September-October has set alarm bells ringing. Hek also mentioned in passing that the observation was made by researchers and health experts. It would have been enlightening for the public if the Health Minister were to be more specific about these sources and the basis on which the prognosis has been made. That Covid has now spread rapidly is a fact. When the Health Department speaks of social distancing it is only mouthing the World Health Organisation directives. The realities on the ground are far from conducive to social distancing. There are residential areas in Shillong city which are heavily congested and where the door between one house and another is just 2-3 feet away. Residents of such places share toilets and their interface with one another is constant. Social distancing is an alien term. If one person should contract Covid, it goes without saying that the person will infect many more in that congested locality. Social distancing is possible for those with independent houses and enough private space, not for those that cannot afford such homes. These realities cannot be lost sight of while coming up with regulations to prevent Covid infection. There are several such slums in Shillong. These slums lack basic amenities such as sanitation and garbage disposal systems.
In such congested areas water supply is meagre and maintaining hygiene is a tough call. People fetch water from public taps and they hardly practice social distancing at such times. When the plague broke out in Surat some years ago it was attributed to the dirt and filth of that place. It took a strong district administration to give Surat a complete facelift post the plague. Covid19 has also exposed the underbelly of Shillong. There is need for stricter building regulations; for beefing up civic amenities; for preventing latrines from flowing directly into streams and rivers; and to decongest the capital city by following the examples of other townships. There is a limit to how much population Shillong can take. It is now rapidly inching towards the one million population figure with no adequate facilities.
If Covid peaks as warned by the Health Minister the first casualty will be the health care system which is woefully inadequate. This will be followed by more paranoia and stigmatisation which even now is rife even amongst those educated enough to know that a person that tests negative need not be quarantined and can go about her duties. These will be the challenges in the coming months if Covid peaks. Whether the State Government has the resources to tackle the resurgence of Covid is questionable.
