Covid surge

 An alarming second wave demands adult vaccination

April is all set to be a challenging month for the people and government alike with Covid-19

restrictions getting expanded and lockdown measures reintroduced in some states. - File photo

April is all set to be a challenging month for the people and government alike with Covid-19

restrictions getting expanded and lockdown measures reintroduced in some states. A sudden

surge in coronavirus cases, the steepest since September 16 last year, with the country

recording over one lakh cases on Monday, has meant that a return to normalcy is going to take

a while longer, ironically when the trajectory was expected to head south aided by vaccine

optimism. But with only 10 states accounting for a majority of the cases, the government has

preferred instead a national campaign beginning today to ensure community participation,

Covid-appropriate behaviour, personal hygiene and sanitation to check the spike even as some

countries like France and Bangladesh have seen a weeklong lockdown being implemented. The

rise in infections itself has been attributed to a severe decline in Covid protocol, pandemic

fatigue and lack of effective containment measures. The impact on employment in business

and industry will also unfold gradually, with restrictions impacting the workforce and output.

Railway stations in states like Maharashtra have witnessed a rush of migrant workers bound

for their home states.

 

The government, unwilling to fritter away the gains of managing the pandemic, has deputed

health teams to visit the states witnessing a surge, with directives to curb the mortality rate and

ramp up healthcare infrastructure. Faced with the task of rejuvenating the economy, emphasis

is being laid on testing, tracing, treatment and vaccination to prevent the situation from getting

out of hand that makes the task of protecting the economically vulnerable groups even more

onerous.

 

The health authorities should get down to micro-managing the vaccination, zeroing in on

regions witnessing the spike and taking steps that are required to avoid disruption to life.While

the Centre has delegated to the states the discretion to take decisions based on local conditions

in this case, frequent resort to restrictive measures will call for scrutiny. A fair bit of

responsibility will also lie with the people by ensuring that they abide by the desired norms.

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/editorials/covid-surge-235130