SHILLONG: The distant thunder was building up. It came slowly but surely. There were signs that the COVID situation in town was getting out of hands. The worry was not the five casualties but the fresh cases being reported with unstoppable regularity from the communities of different localities. The virus infection of front line doctors and people who came in contact with them were alarming enough for triggering a sense of panic in the milieu.
On Friday, the situation turned grim when as many as 23 localities reported positive cases. Quite expectedly, the government had to press the panic button and declared containment zones in the city while also announcing a three-day lockdown next week.
These twin measures, it is expected, would help the health workers launch a massive contact searching in the affected localities.
The fear is that a large number of people might have contacted the virus already. Only the contact tracing will tell the extent of the spread.
After the death of a woman from Mawbah on Thursday, the locality was declared a containment zone. During the day, all shops remained shut. Pedestrian and vehicular movement was almost nil.
A sense of fear for the worst descended in the locality which is perhaps the most densely populated area of the town.
Announcing the lockdown from Sunday midnight till Wednesday midnight, Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong said that the government is concerned about the escalating cases and the lockdown is to ensure that there is no community transmission of the virus.
“We had no other option but to re-impose the lockdown in Shillong agglomeration,” he said, even as he asserted that the lockdown may be extended if the situation takes a turn for the worse.
Meanwhile, the declared containment zones from Friday are Nongrah Dongktieh, Central Nongrim Hills, Lower Nongrim Hills, Nongmensong Lumkdait, Demseiniong (Assam Rifles Signal Unit), Lummawrie, Nongrimmaw Arbhutnot Road, Hopkinson Road under Lower Lachumiere, Malki Chinapatty, Malki Nongshilliang, Mawbah (Barapathar), Rauf Ahmed building in Keating Road, Jhalupara, Lumshyiap Nongmensong, Mawlai Umjaiur, Mawiong Rim, Laitkor Pyllun, Golf Link Mawpun, Kreit Mawshaton village under Mawngap, Umshing Umjapung, Mawlai Mawtawar, Mawlai Nongpdeng and Oakland Municipal quarters.
The Deputy Chief Minister candidly admitted that contact tracing would not be an easy exercise and the Health department would need the cooperation of citizens to effectively complete the exercise.
“Anyone who has come into contact with people who have been tested positive should voluntarily call the 108 Helpline number. This will allow the government to complete the contact tracing exercise at the earliest,” he added.
Health Minister, AL Hek on Friday expressed concern that the COVID situation in Shillong is, in all likelihood, heading towards community transmission, but at the same time asserted that the government would adopt all measures to contain the virus.
He stated that the health authorities are assessing the situation on a day-to-day basis and the road ahead would be mapped based on the outcome of the assessment.
To a query on whether the government was contemplating to use the plasma therapy for treatment of COVID patients, he said that the Health department was examining the matter.
“If there is a need, we will use plasma treatment but we are not using it at the moment,” he added.
He also dispelled the notion of negligence on the part of the medial team resulting in five deaths in the state, saying that there was no negligence and hospital authorities and everybody else have been working hard to save lives.
DHS (MI) Dr Aman War said hospitals in the city were well equipped to deal with the pandemic.
Referring to the five deaths in the city, Dr War said most of the patients come to the hospital “quite late” and if they are put on ventilators, there is a 50-50 chance of survival for the patient.
He expressed optimism that the lockdown and intensified contact tracing will arrest the surging cases of COVID-19 in the city.
