The steady increase in the Covid-19 positive cases in Jamshedpur as well as Jharkhand and the fact that a large percentage of the new cases pertains to those persons who have had no past travel history indicates the possibility of beginning of community transmission phase.
Although officially India has not acknowledged that community transmission has begun anywhere in the country as yet, all facts indicate that the onset may already have begun in many parts of the country, including our own city and state.
Even if not acknowledged officially, it would be good if the administration starts tackling the situation in a way that is apt for a community transmission phase.
This phase is extremely important because the number of cases are expected to rise exponentially and a huge burden on the existing health infrastructure is feared.
It is a matter of satisfaction that the city administration is aware of the perils of oncoming situation and is taking all steps to prevent or delay that situation.
Our city and the state have limited healthcare resources. Any sharp increase in the number of cases, which undoubtedly is going to happen sooner or later if community transmission fully unfolds, will have catastrophic consequences.
Many parts of the country, and even many districts in the state, have had to impose fresh restrictions to thwart further spread of the disease.
The city administration has started taking strict measures to enforce lockdown and social distancing norms. However, this may not prove very effective. In that case, the city administration may choose to impose more restrictions in the days to come.
And that would be quite understandable, seeing the gravity of the situation in the city. The city needs to make some sacrifices to stop the tide of Covid-19 spread. And the administration may choose to impose some fresh restrictions, as has been done in many other parts of the country and several other cities, including Patna, Hazaribagh and Giridih.
The fact that the WHO is also considering the possibility of aerosol transmission combined with droplet transmission, like in restaurants or gyms, has only complicated the matter and now it seems that the Covid-19 is proving more of a challenge now than it was thought to be earlier.
If the city administration goes for some tough measures to deal with Covid-19 pandemic, the citizens would no doubt welcome it and co-operate in every manner.
We need to prevent deaths and for that any measure is welcome.
