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EM Bureau
Dimapur, March 22 (EMN): The highways and byways of Nagaland wore a deserted look on this day, a year ago, as the government announced total lockdown in the entire state starting from midnight of March 22, as a measure to contain and prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Even as the citizens continue to fight the pandemic, Eastern Mirror reflects on the forgettable year that saw many precious lives being given unceremonious farewell due to protocols for disposal of human remains of Covid victims while hundreds of patients and frontline workers suffered “silently” without much social support.
Panic-stricken
As fear gripped the state in the wake of Covid-19 cases being reported in other parts of the country, the state government announced blanket ban on tourists and closure of all educational institutions on March 16.
Many citizens resorted to panic-buying of goods, forcing the government authorities to appeal for calm and assure the public that there was no shortage of essential commodities. Protective items like face masks and hand sanitisers went out of stock due to panic-buying.
Lockdown day
Normal life came to a grinding halt as the state government ordered restriction of public movement, except those seeking to procure and distribute essential goods or to avail essential services; inter-state entry points were sealed and vehicles were off the road.
Adding more woes to the situation, several villages and colonies not only started obstructing the movement of the public but also the frontline workers and those providing essential services, forcing the authorities to warn of registering cases against people resorting to such acts. There were also instances of healthcare workers staying at hospitals in order to avoid discrimination from the public.
Government initiatives
As the Centre started preparing to allow stranded citizens to return to their respective states, the government of Nagaland prepared hundreds of quarantine centres across the state through community involvement and state machineries.
Governor of the state, RN Ravi had said in his recent budget speech that more than 25,000 persons, who returned from outside the state, availed the facilities created by the government for quarantining.
“As many as 37,932 stranded citizens of Nagaland availed financial assistance through the ‘I am Stranded’ portal,” he informed, adding that about INR 24.75 crore relief in cash was provided for the programme.
The state government also embarked on the herculean task of upgrading the ill-equipped healthcare facilities in all the districts. Amid clamour for setting up of Covid-19 testing laboratory, the state’s first bio-safety level 3 (BSL-3) lab was inaugurated at Naga Hospital Authority Kohima on May 21 before going on to set up two BSL-2 labs, one at Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research in Dimapur and the other at District Hospital Tuensang.
Several TrueNat machines were also installed to speed up the testing of samples.
To effectively fight the pandemic, the state government introduced several initiatives including Covid-19 War Room, High Powered Committee, District Task Force, self-declaration app and websites that provide real-time information about the pandemic situation in the state.
Returnees
The first inter-state returnees from other north-eastern states reached Dimapur by bus on May 12, 2020, while the first state-arranged Shramik special train carrying stranded citizens of Nagaland arrived at Dimapur railway station from Chennai on May 22 and the last train from Delhi was on June 16.
More than 8,500 persons (excluding those who came by making their own arrangements) were transported to the state from different parts of the country, Nagaland Governor recently informed.
Some returnees undergoing quarantine took to social media to complain about the quality of free food provided by the government while the authorities expressed concern over unruly behaviour of some who had returned home. But that didn’t stop community involvement in easing the situation as villagers, organisations and individuals came forward to help in cash, labour and in kind like vegetables.
First Covid case and deaths
The state reported its first Covid-positive case on May 25, 2020 after three returnees from Chennai were tested positive for the virus. The state witnessed single-day highest spike on September 11 with 310 cases and registered highest active cases on August 14 with 2110 cases.
Nagaland registered first Covid death on July 24 after 72-year-old male fell victim to the disease. The person was declared dead on July 21 at Nikos Hospital but his test result came three days after his death.
A total of 81 people from the state have died of the disease till date, with 0.66% death rate and 84% of them had comorbidities.
Flashback from people at the helm
Recalling the crisis, Anoop Khinchi, who was the deputy commissioner of Dimapur during the initial stage of the pandemic, told Eastern Mirror that the situation was challenging as they knew nothing about the disease and its possible impact.
He said that they took on the situation as it came and reacted accordingly; they did everything possible they could and to their best. He said it was challenging considering the pressure from public, who were also not aware of the pandemic.
Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC), Y Kikheto Sema, who was the overall in-charge for Dimapur Covid 19 activities, said that he was excited when he was appointed for the task and started “thinking what to do and what not to do” during his three-hour journey from Kohima to Dimapur.
The overall experience was interesting and amazing and I can only say that team Dimapur was very supportive, he said, adding that some of the challenges they faced was arrangement of essential commodities for those staying at the border area of Assam and Nagaland, as lockdown made it difficult to move freely.
Lessons from the crisis
Khinchi said that the crisis brought to light the need to conduct regular drills like the State Disaster Management Authority and take it seriously in order to respond to such emergencies, which could happen, in a better way.
He added that any situation can be tackled if people are united and work together as a team.
Sema said the crisis taught him that “no power on earth can save us except God” and that people should not depend on outsiders for their livelihood. He went on to encourage the villagers to give importance on agriculture, saying that the state is blessed with fertile land.
Citing that most of the returners were skill and unskilled workers, besides students, he said they could work in the state as jobs similar to the ones they were doing in other states are available here too.
He also urged the people of the state to invest in establishing educational institutions.
Pandemic isn't over yet
A health officer, who wished not to be named, told this newspaper that both the healthcare workers and general public faced several challenges including “fear of the unknown”.
He said that the Health department was initially inadequately prepared in terms of quarantine centres; designated Covid-19 hospitals; knowledge on clinical management of the disease; protective equipment; medical equipment especially ventilators, oxygen, medicines etc.; and limited knowledge on Covid-19, information, education and communication strategies.
He also shared that no SOPS were in place during the initial stage of the pandemic, and thus the department had to begin from scratch in terms of management including beds, medicines, equipment, quarantine centres, Covid care centres etc. among others.
The health officer advised the citizens to continue to follow Covid-appropriate behaviours by wearing mask, washing hands, maintaining social distancing, and avoiding close contact settings, crowded places and closed setups.
‘Even if vaccination is on, we should not be “complacent” and follow Covid-appropriate behaviours, follow the SOPs in place,’ he said, while urging the people to get vaccinated as it is one of the protective tools available to overcome the disease.
“The pandemic isn't over yet. If we are complacent, there is all likelihood of increase in Covid-19 cases,” he warned.