SHILLONG: With the rise in COVID cases, especially in East Khasi Hills, aggressive containment appears to be the only way forward in slowing the virus, according to Commissioner And Secretary Health, Sampath Kumar.
Talking to The Shillong Times on whether there was a change in government strategy in getting a grip on the virus, Sampath Kumar pointed to the statistical term R0, pronounced “R naught,” which indicates how contagious an infectious disease is. It’s also referred to as the reproduction number.
As an infection is transmitted to new people, it reproduces itself. R0 tells us the average number of people who will contract a contagious disease from one person with that disease. It specifically applies to a population of people who were previously free of infection and haven’t been vaccinated.
He said the Basic Protection Rate of an infectious disease is 1:2:3, meaning that if one infected but asymptomatic person goes about his work as if nothing has happened, that person can infect about 400 other people in a month. The reason for the entry and exit point restrictions was essentially to get a grip on the virus to keep it at a 1:1 ratio only.
The official also pointed to an important strategy that worked very well in the early phases which is the Covid Management Committees within every Dorbar Shnong and the volunteers enlisted to work at detecting positive cases and also to manage the quarantine centres.
“We need to activate these Committees and engage them in a continuous process and also provide support to them. We would also require NGOs to volunteer to eradicate the fear psychosis around the virus and to adopt appropriate behaviour to deal with the virus.”
Sampath Kumar said in most cases, people who test positive and are shifted to isolation/quarantine centres tend to become worried, stressed and anxious. This worsens the health of the person and that results in him/her having to be shifted to a hospital. “We are trying to work out a Psychology protocol so that those in quarantine/isolation centres are given the right kind of psychological support.”
Sampath Kumar also said that the cardinal principle in dealing with this virus is for every person to assume he/she is carrying the virus and observe all the protocols of physical distancing, masking and hand hygiene. That way the person creates a protective shield around herself/himself. These three behaviours have to be reinforced and NGOs and the community can help enforce these behaviours.
“To rely on government alone to tackle this virus in a top-down approach is neither practical nor feasible. Covid is an infectious disease and community involvement is integral to successful handling of Covid,” he said, ) adding that community participation alone will help in getting a grip of the virus and prevent its spread.
Home quarantine
Speaking about home quarantine, Sampath Kumar said in 90% of cases, the symptoms are mild and can be treated at home using the kit provided on how to deal with a person testing Covid positive. “It is important to start with medication at home and only if oxygen levels drop should a person be taken to hospital.”
As far as fatigue of health care workers is concerned the official; said so far the working roster is to give one week break to this in Covid management hospitals. Earlier there was also a lot of fear but that is slowly going away as health care workers learn more about the infection and how to adopt the treatment protocols.