SHILLONG, July 2: With the second wave of the pandemic showing no signs of ebbing, the state government has advised people to follow micro-level Covid appropriate behaviour to defeat the virus, especially in rural areas which have been reporting a large number of cases on a daily basis.
The second wave has taken a far greater toll on the state with the virus penetrating deep into remote areas. According to conservative estimate, at least one in every ten villages has reported positive cases. As per official count, 2,893 active cases have been reported from 637 villages out of a total of about 6,400 villages in the state.
Principal Secretary of Health department, Sampath Kumar attributed the spread to the Delta variant. He said it is infectious and people are contracting it even with the slightest of exposures.
“If you take off your mask for a cup of tea while you are with others, you may contract the virus,” he said.
While there may be multiple reasons for the virus spread in semi-urban and rural pockets, a probable reason seems to be the convergence of people at community water collection centres without adherence to protocols like physical distancing and wearing of masks.
Kumar maintained that if people gather in a group without wearing masks, there is already a breach and if there is any carrier in that gathering, the chances of infection multiply.
He further pointed out that another reason for the high number of cases in the state was that in addition to vaccine hesitancy, people were also hesitant in coming forward to get tested.
Kumar admitted that there is a need to remove the fear of stigma as far as the disease is concerned. If people come forward for testing, they will not only protect themselves but also their families and close contacts, he said.
According to him, if any person tests positive and is isolated, the virus will die naturally.
“This happened in districts like West Jaintia Hills and Ri Bhoi where the positivity rate was quite high but the number of testing was increased and other measures were also taken as a result of which the graph flattened there,” Kumar said.
He highlighted the initial challenges due to vaccine hesitancy, even among healthcare workers, and said awareness and one-to-one talks with the frontline workers have resulted in 90% vaccine coverage of the health workers in the state.
The official maintained that vaccination was the most important arsenal against the virus, adding that 99% of the people who died of the disease in the state had not taken the vaccine. Doctors have also confirmed that those who have taken at least the first dose are recovering faster than those who have not, he added.
So far, 7,23,265 vaccine doses have been administered in the state, including 6,40,638 first and 82,627 second doses.
The government involved BDOs, DMHOs, church elders and community leaders to motivate people to come forward for vaccination and the effort is paying off. There has been a significant increase in the number of people coming forward to get jabbed.
The Health department is now going to rope in other departments having large community outreach to motivate people to come forward for vaccination, Kumar said.
He further said the department has already involved the C&RD department, which has an outreach of 9.5 lakh citizens through its SHGs, MGNREGA, VEC and job card holders; and the Education department to promote vaccination.
Kumar said departments like PWD and Labour have also been roped in since they deal with a large number of labourers and contractors.
He asserted that the Health department will not let its guard down and continue with monitoring and community mobilization to ensure that the numbers decline at the earliest.
