Public carelessness, returnees reason for spike in Covid-19 cases, says Nagaland official

Lockdown not ruled out for Dimapur if cases continue to rise

Our Correspondent
Kohima, April 28 (EMN): Nagaland health officials have attributed the recent steep rise in Covid-19 positive cases to ‘public carelessness and those coming from outside the state’.

Principal Director of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Kevichusa Medikhru observed that people were being a “bit careless” and were not following Covid-19 appropriate behaviour.

“Besides, people coming to the state from outside are the main cause for the steep rise in positive cases,” he said.

Nagaland’s commercial hub Dimapur tops the list in district-wise Covid-19 positive cases.

However, ‘people there still behave as if nothing is happening. Now with curfew being imposed, the crowd is coming down’, he said at a press conference in Kohima on Wednesday. 

To address this issue, discussions were going on how to maintain separate protocols for Dimapur and other districts, he added. 

When asked if complete lockdown should be imposed in Dimapur, the official replied, “We are yet to come to a conclusion”.

‘In case there is an increase in positive cases, it may have to come down under (complete) lockdown,’ he added.

As for the preparedness, he was of the view that if the community could co-operate and get involved in the fight against Covid-19 actively, ‘state should not have a problem’.

“But, if it is left to the Health department or Home department alone to combat this issue, we are spending more resources in implementation of Covid-appropriate behaviours,” he said and called upon the community to join hands to combat the pandemic.

Registration begins for vaccination of 18-44 years

The principal director also informed that registration for vaccination has started for 18 to 44 years and added that it “does not mean that the Health department was going to vaccinate immediately”.

He said that these age group constitutes an estimated eight lakh population.

“The Centre has asked the states to buy vaccines. However, the government of Nagaland would take the call to provide free vaccines for this age group as far as possible,” he added. 

Genome sequencing results awaited

The official had earlier informed that to identify the new strain virus of SARS-CoV-2, the samples for positive cases needed to be sent for genome sequencing.

He said the samples had been packed and dispatched for genome sequencing on April 26 and the results were still awaited.

It would take a minimum 15 days to get the results, he informed. 

Meanwhile, the principal director said that among the people who tested positive for the virus, new symptoms were being observed.

‘It has almost all the last year’s symptoms and in addition to it, they are also vomiting, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, type of nerve problem and some kind of allergic reactions. It is much more aggressive than last year’s symptoms,’ he added.

State Nodal Officer of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), Dr. Nyanthung Kikon informed that there are 10 centres in the country where genome sequencing is done. The centre for north-eastern states is Kolkata, he added.

“Due to an increase in positive cases, we are supposed to send 5% of all the positive cases for genome sequencing,” Kikon said, adding that genome sequencing takes time and ‘it is looking at two to three weeks’ time’.

Vaccination drive update

State Immunisation Officer, Dr. Ritu Thurr informed that after the Covid-19 ‘vaccination festival’, it witnessed an increase in vaccine takers in the state unlike the first two phases.

While giving the current status of Covid-19 vaccine, Thurr said the state had received one lakh doses on April 26 out of three lakh proposed doses for the state. It would be sufficient for the second dose for those who have had the first vaccination, he added.

Meanwhile, the next consignment of vaccine is expected to arrive in the state after two weeks.

He informed that the Central government has given a new policy for the vaccine; the allocations are to be given according to three criteria—weekly consumption, number of Covid-19 positive cases in the state, and availability of vaccine in the portal.

“Every fortnightly, Centre would observe and give vaccine accordingly,” he informed. 

About 5.6% of wastage of vaccine is being recorded in the state against the national average of 6%, Thurr added.