Covid-19 surge a matter of concern

The surge in the fresh Covid-19 cases in India is deeply worrying and a matter of concern. The number of new positive cases has gone above 11000 and even daily deaths are nearing 400, while the total death tally has crossed 8000.

The fact that India has now 4th place in total number of cases world-wide despite early lock-down and maximum effort in bolstering weak health infrastructure is something that worries every citizen of the country. Reports from the hospitals in some of the major cities and different parts of the country are not very reassuring as patients are unable to find a bed and good care in hospitals even as the health professionals are finding it difficult to cope with the steep rise in the number of patients.

The fact that ICMR still feels that India has still not reached a community transmission stage brings little consolation. If the pre-community transmission stage has put our health infrastructure under such pressure, one shudders to think what may be in store once the country reaches community transmission stage.

For Jamshedpur, the situation is tricky too. During the most of early lock-down period, the city largely remained untouched by the virus. However, as the Unlock-1 approached, the number of infected persons started rising fast. The city is at a point where infection is still limited to those who have a travel history. However, it would not take too long, before it starts spreading to others too.

There are many who feel that the lockdown has been too early for this city and this is the idea time for the city to have some sort of lockdown at the local level.

The best strategy for tackling Covid-19 situation now would be to let the local authorities take decisions according to their local situation. Jamshedpur needs a few tough restrictions to stop the menace from spreading more at this juncture. This is a call that the local administration would have to take.