Chumben N Ngullie
Dimapur
What is your general opinion on the existing relaxation of certain aspects of lockdown measures and institutions and of the recent Govt. order of opening up religious institutions with riders in our state?
As for me, I am sceptical of it. Here are the Two reasons as to why:
Spread of COVID-19 from a known source and within a regulated environment-
Nagaland was the last corona free State in India before the arrival of the returnees from other states. Amidst mass resentment against ‘that’ decisions, I for one fully supported that decision. However, we all anticipated our worst fear of corona reaching Nagaland becoming a reality but I believed it could be contained as it would be from within a regulated environment. As a matter of fact each and every Tom, Dick and Harry in Nagaland knew that it was bound to happen. The reality now is that the Govt. is struggling hard to properly process the returnees, test them and quarantine them due to the task being humungous in Nature. The abilities and resources of Govt. of Nagaland has been stretched to its limit even to contain the spread of COVID-19 from within the Govt. regulated environment. Sadly, there have been cases reported of the spread of COVID-19 from within it due to carelessness, poor planning and failure/laxity of Govt. operating procedures.
Community Transmission of COVID-19 in Nagaland-
As we all know, Community Transmission of COVID-19 is the worst case scenario as seenworldwide in this pandemic which the people of Nagaland hasunknowingly dodged it so far. Based on my first hand on experience from Dimapur district in current the period of relaxed lockdown measures, the general mass of people doesn’t seems to understand the essence of the Notion of Social Distancing. Crowded streets with people and vehicles, crowded makeshift markets in every nook and corner, zero social distancing in most of the shops etc.. Had there been a single hidden carrier of COVID-19 among us, community Transmission would be of alarming success rate in Nagaland. People are complacent but the Govt. of Nagaland has now passed the order of opening up religious institutions.
Any topic relating to one’s faith is a sensitive topic which is often argued without any reason or logic. However, In my opinion it is highly questionable for allowing opening up of religious institutions because it is one key factor which helps in Community Transmission of COVID-19.
Where is the logic of ordering the opening up of institutions which were previously deemed/identified as key factors in Community Transmission of COVID-19 when the fight for it has just begun in Nagaland? Nagaland state is not 100% a Christians state, there exists diverse religious groups and diverse religious practices. Supporters of this Govt. Order please do remember that God helps only those who help themselves.
On the event of Community Transmission of COVID-19 becoming a reality, is the Govt of Nagaland prepared with adequate resources, enough manpower and technical medical expertise?
We all know and can see how much our frontline workers has been sacrificing and suffering to their outmost limit. So, is it really a logical and practical decision to add more pressure to the enormous task already at hand?
I humbly appeal to the GON to review its decision based on different angles of consequences in its practical applications.
My sincere request to all who are reading this write up to kindly ponder, research and bring to light how Community Transmission of COVID-19 has wreaked havoc in different parts of the world and at the same time appreciate the efforts of our frontline workers.
