SHILLONG, March 18: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma has stated that the government is better prepared to deal with any situation if a second wave of pandemic hits Meghalaya.
“We are prepared for it. In fact, all the states are better prepared now. We should not be surprised since the second wave is happening in many countries and we are now seeing it in India,” Sangma told reporters here on Wednesday.
According to him, people are now more mentally prepared than when the COVID-19 pandemic had struck.
“We are better prepared even in terms of infrastructure. Hopefully, the second wave will not come. But if it does, we are now in a much better position compared to last time,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the citizens of the state cannot take things likely.
“Nobody can take COVID-19 virus for granted although they may get vaccinated and see the numbers (of affected people) going down,” he said.
The Chief Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a meeting on Wednesday was very clear about preventing a rerun of the past situation.
“The Prime Minister was very particular that the states need to keep a strong watch on the travel aspect. He (Prime Minister) also asked the states to ensure that the travellers are informed,” he said.
He said that the state government is already having proper registration for the tourists coming in.
“We have also decided that the people who are coming from the high-risk zones like Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab and Karnataka should do RT-PCR test at the entry point. We have already issued a notification in this connection,” Sangma said.
The Chief Minister also clarified that the government is not asking people from outside to quarantine and it is only insisting on RT-PCR in case they don’t possess a COVID-19-free certificate.
On the possibility of re-imposing lockdown in the state, he said that the situation is under control to a large extent due to the efforts of the citizens, community participation and frontline workers. “We are being able to do slightly better as compared to some of the states in the region. At this point in time, it does not look like we need to go for lockdown. But if the situation turns bad or worse then we will examine it at that particular point of time,” the Chief Minister said.
On how will the government will handle people from states like Assam headed for elections, he said that the government is making it mandatory for people coming to the state to get tested. “The steps taken by the government to register people who are coming in have also helped a lot. This is a model that other states can adopt in the long run,” Sangma said.
According to him, the registration process will help in contact-tracing very quickly in the future and keep track on the overall tourists who are coming in.
He said the government is not thinking of re-enforcing some of the restrictions as of now. “We had already gone through the entire exercise in phase I. Certain strategies worked, some did not. We felt there are some areas which need to be softened,” the Chief Minister said.
According to him, the government has realised that the micro containment zones and the response of the citizens are important. “The most important part is that citizens need to take precautions. This is the key to the entire strategy. We feel that the restrictions are not required and may come in the future,” he said.
He added that the government would try to learn from the previous experience and adopt a better strategy if another pandemic strikes.
