Samikhsya Bureau
Can we clap the virus away through a day’s lockdown. That is a call given by the Prime Minister who made an appeal time and again to scare away the virus through clapping, banging of utensils or anything one can lay his or her hands on, from the doors and rooftops.
In addition, the chief minister of Odisha, going steps ahead, has imposed a week long lockdown in eight districts to start with. Beginning from March 22 7am to March 29, 9 pm.
That is an advisory coming from none other than the CM of the state is bound to go well as desired.
The reason cited behind such a sudden imposition is stated to be influx of about more than three thousand people from abroad and apprehensions cannot be dismissed that, some of them are carriers of the virus.
There, the moot question is, how confident is the administration that the people coming in are undergoing the required medical scrutiny for the COVID-19.
Instances are many that many people have managed to come here bereft of a proper check.
In a locality, in Bhubaneswar, a young couple coming from abroad joined the parents without the mandatory registration. Somehow, the issue got leaked and the local police had to prevail upon to take the couple for the necessary medical check-up.
It is different matter that, if they tested negative or positive but, the miss was fatal and the number of such people could have multiplied during this span of arrivals.
It is imperative that, besides the stress on social distancing, a fool-proof mechanism has to be in place to screen the incomers, particularly the ones with a travel history of foreign country.
If one Kanika Kapoor can abandon such a massive aftershock of her proximity with so many, as reported, then anything is possible here also.
Hence, besides the lockdown, it is equally paramount that, no carrier of the virus gets in into the mainstream here.
The state government should also come forward with the action-plans on the medical front other than the distancing measures.
So far, the COVID-19 has been seen among the upper layer of the society, whether in Odisha or elsewhere.
In that case, any slip can shift the danger of infections down to the community then, the risks can really spiral out of the bounds and pose a mountainous problem.
How far the state’s medical preparedness is geared up to face that kind of fall-out the state must keep its people informed.
Mere clamping of lockdown or clapping may not help the cause and hound out COVID-19.
