Imlisanen Jamir
The virus seems to have escaped our minds. It looks like all that attention to COVID-19 appropriate behaviour has gone out of the window. With the government relaxing lockdown guidelines in response to the low positivity rate of the State, fewer and fewer people are being careful.
This is happening in the face of the authorities issuing stern orders for strict enforcement of safety measures like wearing of masks. For instance, on September 9, the Chief Secretary issued an order directing action to be taken against those found not wearing masks and a penalty of Rs 200 is to be imposed every time the offence is committed.
The same order provided details of the authorities empowered to enforce this rule and laid out a strict schedule to monitor public adherence to mask wearing. ASI and above level officers of Police, and Assistant Road Safety & Enforcement Inspector and above level officers of the Transport Department, were made the enforcement agencies.
District Task Forces (DTFs) were ordered to take urgent steps for ensuring enforcement of the directive for mask wearing in public places and for taking action against those violating, in their respective jurisdiction. They were also directed to submit daily reports to the State Level War Room on the number of persons not wearing masks in public places found by the enforcement agencies, and the total fine collected from the violators.
All these are fine and good, but are they really having an effect?
A walk through Dimapur town in particularly and one can notice that a significant number of people have entirely ditched the mask wearing and social distancing mandate. Businesses have their year old ‘No mask no entry’ signs, but people can be seen entering shops mask-less. Business owners, except for some, are normally lackadaisical in their insistence for customers to mask up.
Meanwhile, with relaxations issued by the State Government under its Unlock-7 guidelines, events and crowds are bound to pop up soon across the State. The relaxations have been issued given the positivity rate being below 5% for the previous two weeks.
With many events on the horizon, especially the State Government’s decision to go ahead with the Hornbill Festival later in the year, it is imperative to ensure that the positivity rate stays down. If we’ve learnt anything from this pandemic, it is that complacency is a killer.
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