Pandemic is shrinking but…
The Union government has disclosed that the pandemic curve is stabilizing in many states as India’s reproduction value (R) for COVID-19, which shows how fast the infection is spreading, is below one now which means that the pandemic is shrinking. NITI Aayog member (Health) V K Paul has said that comprehensive efforts at containment and testing are resulting in stabilisation. However, he asserted that though some states continue to be cause of concern, the overall picture is of stabilization. He cautioned that the people and the government need to be very mindful that achieving declining positivity rate is because of the results of what measures are being taken to stop the spread and the same cannot be slackened thus again let the situation go out of hands. The experts say that 1.8 percent of the total population in India has been affected by COVID so far which means 98 percent of the population is still susceptible or vulnerable to the infection. In comparison, 10.1 percent of the population in the US has been infected so far, 7.3 percent in Brazil, 9 percent in France and 7.4 percent in Italy. The findings are encouraging and the efforts of the governments and the cooperation of the people have started paying dividends. However, the governments all over the country besides the people should remain extra cautious and not let the guard down so that the still vulnerable/susceptible 98 percent population remains safe.
The alarming part of the second wave of the Covid-19 is that the children are getting infected and therefore people have to be extra cautious on this front. It is responsibility of the parents to protect themselves and their children and encourage everyone to wear face masks and maintain social distancing. Children can have asymptomatic infection but they can become easy tools to spread the infection and therefore parents have to remain extra vigilant and discourage children from moving out and mingling with crowds. It is encouraging to see that a continuous decline in active cases has been noted in the last 15 days. The data released by the government says that from being 17.13 percent on May 03, active cases now comprise 13.3 percent of the country’s total infections. A positive trend in the recovery has also been noted. The recovery rate which was 81.7 percent on May 03 has increased to 85.6 percent now. These are all very healthy indications but should in no way make people complacent. The people have to be extra vigilant and adhere to the Covid restrictions announced by the government. Though there is no disagreement on the fact that the continuous restrictions have impacted peoples’ economy but here the question is of life and death. So people should follow the Covid SOPs in letter and spirit. They need to understand that the battle against this deadly virus is a long drawn one and wearing face masks, avoiding crowds and maintaining social distance and strictly following hand hygiene are the new norms that are going to stay for a while.
