Dr Asangba Tzüdir
In such trying and testing times, moral dilemmas are bound to play in the minds of people especially those at the helm of affairs because certain decisions with regard to the current pandemic, even while ‘taken in the larger interest’ would affect one or the other. It is also in this context that a consensus could not be arrived on the issue of Dimapur total lockdown, or anywhere placed in such a predicament.
Pressure has been exerted on the Administrators on opening up markets like New market and super market. But, considering the intensity of the situation where the jump in the number of COVID-19 positive cases shot up from a mere 3 cases in May 25 to 1021 cases as of July 20, and where certain areas have now been sealed in Dimapur and also in various other districts in Nagaland, the opening of the markets will quickly open up for the inevitable.
In this pandemic, sadly, we continue to run after time playing the catch up game, a game where life is at stake. We are running after the time frame between a sample taken for test to the time the result returns, so also the sealing of places only after tests confirming positive. This is the crucial time frame where the spread can happen in various patterns, and Dimapur which seems to have gotten more active and busier during this pandemic, poses a serious issue of contact tracing and its difficulty where the spread pattern changes within that crucial time frame. It is within such a predicament that Dimapur needs a total lockdown and not simply sealing of places thereafter.
Of course, equally contesting and compelling is the importance of reviving the economy or rather business transaction which is more apt for a consumerist society. Business community is badly affected which also requires serious deliberation and consideration because it is pitted against the need to prevent and also stop the spread of corona virus which requires shutting them down.
Within the stipulated time frame there is more flooding of business activity and flouting of the SOP’s starting from maintenance of social distancing. Will letting the business run throughout the day help ease the congestion? We are still far away from talking about herd immunity to create effective resistance through vaccination. As such, while the proposal for Dimapur total lockdown has been put on hold by the Dimapur District Task Force, it requires a rethinking considering the present circumstances.
Within the limited resources, the challenges are manifold. Entry into the state is not strictly monitored; markets are open in some neighboring villages in the border areas of Assam and which are flooded with people; construction works continues and who knows the employer may not actually know the place from where the hired worker had come. There are many more loose ends and which are difficult to tie it all up, although it is not impossible but calls for a collective responsibility. As such, all these, calls for a total lockdown of Dimapur for some time till at least contact tracing is done.
The exercise of contact tracing, especially if it has spread out in an unknown pattern, will only be productive if it is carried out after imposing a total lockdown. However, it has only widened the time frame. For now, Nagaland is placed at a very precarious stage of getting to a situation where things will go awfully beyond control and management.
Now, on the line of smart action, the notification given by Deputy Commissioner of Mon would do a world of good if it is applied in all the districts. The DC of Mon has made a move for testing shopkeepers, fuel station employees, town porters and laborers’ at FCI Godowns, drivers and handymen engaged in essential commodities duty towards ensuring public health safety so also to contain the spread of the novel corona virus.
Coming back to the need for a lockdown, there are new challenges for the business community and which concerns questions of survival for many but it is not the case that there aren’t any other alternatives, nor is it about the call for a month long lockdown. Question to ponder is – at this ‘rate’, once the situation goes out of control and management, hypothetically, the only option left will be the need to have a month long lockdown.
(Dr. Asangba Tzudir contributes a weekly guest editorial to the Morung Express. Comments can be emailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
