SHILLONG, May 2: Members of the State Level Medical Expert Committee (SLMEC) are of the opinion that citizens in the state have not been adhering to COVID-19 protocols due to disconnect between the authorities and the public and admitted that it was the failure of those in charge.
Pointing out that one of the problems in the state is that there is less engagement with the community and getting them to follow the COVID appropriate behaviours is the key to success, member of the Expert Committee, Dr Rajiv Sarkar said, “We are trying but we still have not got there. People are still wearing their face masks on their chin.”
“Lockdown affects people’s livelihood and is not a solution but since people are still taking things lightly, I think we have failed,” Dr Sarkar, an Epidemiologist from the Indian Institute of Public Health, Shillong, said.
On the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the state, he said, “We know that cases are rising. If we compare the report with last year’s trajectory we can witness that what happened in five months’ time last year is happening in a month now. However, we are still far away from pushing the panic button”.
On the 10-day containment measures imposed in Shillong, Jowai and Tura, Dr Sarkar said, “Personally, I think the order came at the right time. Maharashtra, Delhi and other states waited for too long.”
“But we have to be vigilant; we have to keep observing and see the results of these ten days of containment,” he cautioned.
On the rapid surge in cases, he said that might be due to various factors.
“It might be due to double mutant variants. We don’t know yet since the results are awaited,” he said. Informing that around 60-70 per cent of the positive cases were among people coming from outside the state or with travel history, he said that the number of positive cases in the state was still less.
He further said that since there is no standard or specific treatment for COVID, the only one thing that has been shown to be effective against the virus is vaccination.
He lamented that data shows that the vaccine coverage in East Khasi Hills has been poor.
On the role of the IIPH in the fight against COVID, Dr Sarkar said, “IIPH is supporting the government to remove vaccine hesitancy. We are conducting a survey among different operational groups and based on the outcome we will give recommendations to the authorities concerned.”
