{"id":1462,"date":"2021-12-11T13:49:40","date_gmt":"2021-12-11T13:49:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenortherngazette.com\/?p=1462"},"modified":"2021-12-11T13:49:40","modified_gmt":"2021-12-11T13:49:40","slug":"dont-let-covid-back-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenortherngazette.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/11\/dont-let-covid-back-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t let Covid Back In"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t let Covid Back In<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Prof. Vikram Soni<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dehradun, Dec 11<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fourth wave of the Covid \u00a0is pounding Europe now.\u00a0 It is incredible that\u00a0 such exalted countries have not\u00a0 managed to contain it after the huge casualties from the earlier three waves.<\/p>\n

But there is a new alarm call \u2013 which is yet to be fathomed but is causing worldwide mayhem.\u00a0 A\u00a0\u00a0 highly infectious mutation of Covid , Omicron , which carries an unusually large number of potentially dangerous variations is the\u00a0 new scourge. Since we are mostly ignorant of its understanding or implications,\u00a0 it is positively important to stop its spread. Already over thirty countries have reported cases of Omicorn and the list will only grow .<\/p>\n

There is only one way to stop the pandemic\u00a0 and that is to isolate and quarantine any cases\u00a0 of Covid promptly or it will morph into an outbreak. Given the genocidal second wave in India and its huge population with little infrastructure to control it, it \u00a0is imperative that\u00a0 India\u00a0 close down all but essential\u00a0 travel not only from Omicorn affected countries but also from Europe and scrupulously monitor its entry points before\u00a0 another wave of Covid gets through our defences and overwhelms\u00a0 us. Now is the time for a moratorium on\u00a0 flights from\u00a0 Omicron affected countries, \u00a0Europe and Russia or any country that has\u00a0 Covid outbreaks.<\/p>\n

Holland, Belgium and Austria are witnessing violent protests against lockdowns though their infection curves and hospitalisations are going up steeply enough to break records. They have to act. Germany has gone from four figures to\u00a0 almost 70,000 infections a day and the new German Minister for Health Jena Spahen has warned the public about the alarming rate at which the increase is taking place, `We will soon have only three categories of people left, those with Covid, those who survived Covid and those who are dead from Covid.\u201d<\/p>\n

An extremely grim warning indeed.\u00a0 These countries are having to deal with over two million new cases per week and health services are finding it difficult to cope. \u00a0Britain has\u00a0 a high percentage of jabbed population,\u00a0 but also high infection rates too, yet they have been cavalier in not imposing even masks and social distancing – a grossly optimistic view of the situation, which they may regret. Russia is also going through a full scale pandemic. For India not to\u00a0 be alarmed and act to strictly regulate traffic from these countries and the rest of Europe\u00a0 would simply be an invitation for Covid.<\/p>\n

Though the Government has announced \u00a0measures to monitor all incoming international travellers and impose a quarantine on them the protocol is not working effectively.\u00a0 There is chaos at all international airports in the country as all passengers have to wait upto \u00a08 hours\u00a0 to get their Covid results and there is huge over crowding at the airport making it a perfect\u00a0 hotspot for the virus to become a superspreader. It is clear that we were not prepared for this. \u00a0But one way to handle it , for example in Delhi, \u00a0is to mobilise the hotels in the Aerocity and\u00a0\u00a0 immediately bundle off all passenger\u00a0 to them \u00a0and clear the airport.\u00a0\u00a0 They can accommodated in\u00a0 the halls and even rooms\u00a0 while they await their results . Those found positive must \u00a0quarantine for two weeks at the hotels. \u00a0It is of course essential that masks and physical distancing be rigouously imposed.<\/p>\n

The quarantine regime\u00a0 at present is\u00a0 very leaky \u2013 especially home quarantine can be easily violated with domestic staff and others moving in and out.\u00a0 Delhi and Mumbai have over 5000 incoming international travellers coming in every day . To keep track of them in strictly observing\u00a0 quarantine in not easy. It would require mobilising\u00a0 a huge force which is not available \u2013 this is carried out by some kind of young home guards who are not professional. Thus, at the moment there is no organised dispensation and\u00a0 it is clear that in the absence of a stringent regime the virus \u00a0will likely defeat these efforts.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s recall how Covid came to India. We cannot forget that \u00a0the Covid virus was first reported on January 30 2020 in three Kerala towns. It was found among three Indian medical students who had returned from Wuhan the epicenter of the pandemic. Also ,it came from Italian tourists\u00a0 who\u00a0 were visiting India after having \u00a0been to China and contracted the virus there. And there is the hub. There is no alternative but to exercise extreme caution\u00a0 and surveillance with people coming into the country so we do not repeat the blunder. And\u00a0 the authorities must trace down all arrivals into the country. It must also deal with any cases\u00a0 that arise with urgency and complete vigilance.<\/p>\n

At the moment we are sitting comfortably in India with Covid under control . We cannot afford another wave\u00a0 and as pointed out above our present\u00a0 strategy of\u00a0\u00a0 testing and quarantine is unlikely to hold the\u00a0 virus that is carried by incoming travellers.\u00a0\u00a0 The only way that \u00a0is likely to work is to temporarily stop all but essential international \u00a0incoming travel from Covid countries.\u00a0 This is to alert the Government and population that the time to act is running out, so let\u2019s do it before we\u00a0 let Covid strike again<\/p>\n

(Prof Vikram Soni is emeritus professor of physics and ecological wisdom at\u00a0Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t let Covid Back In By Prof. Vikram Soni Dehradun, Dec 11 The fourth wave of the Covid \u00a0is pounding Europe now.\u00a0 It is incredible that\u00a0 such exalted countries have not\u00a0 managed to contain it after the huge casualties from the earlier three waves. But there is a new alarm call \u2013 which is yet …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,62],"tags":[112,93],"class_list":["post-1462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-health","tag-covid-19","tag-omicron"],"yoast_head":"\nDon\u2019t let Covid Back In - Northern Gazette<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thenortherngazette.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/11\/dont-let-covid-back-in\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don\u2019t let Covid Back In - Northern Gazette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don\u2019t let Covid Back In By Prof. Vikram Soni Dehradun, Dec 11 The fourth wave of the Covid \u00a0is pounding Europe now.\u00a0 It is incredible that\u00a0 such exalted countries have not\u00a0 managed to contain it after the huge casualties from the earlier three waves. 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