Imlisanen Jamir
The Nagaland Government today preemptively announced a major shutdown of the State starting March 23, urging closure of all non essential services, while urging people to drastically restrict their movements outside their homes.
Nagaland, so far has not reported any positive COVID-19 cases, but given how all places of outbreak have suffered, the government’s move is most welcome.
Going forward, these attempts at every level to respond to the COVID-19 threat must reflect two obligations. The first is an urgent need to transparently explain new mandates and restrictions, while spreading awareness that what’s going on is much more than a public health crisis.
The second is that the public must do its part, with people keeping both their distance from one another and their calm, while following government directives.
The Government’s major lockdown directive is what is required now. However, the messaging has been all over the place in many ways. Directives have been issued in a haphazard manner, especially with regard to district level authorities. The State Government needs to centralize its messaging, including all line departments engaged in this fight against the pandemic.
The government also needs to consider that economic ramifications could be severe for businesses, employees and daily earners. Measures should be put in place to address this fallout as well. The traumatic events of the few weeks globally, reports from which have dominated news cycles, have no parallel in recent history. The world that the youngest generations stood to inherit will likely never be the same. But it needs to sink in, and quickly.
The decisions our state and local leaders have been forced to make are heartbreaking, but they are proactive and preventative, not reactionary and hysterical. We all need to do our part to stem this tide.
Until more widespread testing is made available, we cannot know the full spread of the disease around us, so social distancing will be with us for the foreseeable future, which requires jarring and disruptive changes to our daily lives and sacrifices to comply with those changes.
Social distancing is not an attack on freedom. It is designed to keep the virus from getting out of control and putting an undue strain on resources hospitals need to fight this pandemic.
If people keep clustering, all of us are worse off. Lockdowns only work if you let them. Do your part.
Comments can be sent to imlisanenjamir@gmail.com
