Lockdown likely in Nagaland if uncontrolled spread continues

DIMAPUR, Oct 25 (NPN)
With Nagaland’s sample positivity rate at 9% being higher than the National average,  the Health & Family Welfare (H&FW) Department has again expressed serious concern over the “uncontrolled spread” of COVID-19 infection in the State.
Pointing out that the next three winter months was critical for the State in determining the fate of this pandemic, the department warned that total lockdowns could be imposed again in the event of an uncontrolled spread.
“This is a crucial time for the State to enforce all SOPs strictly and immediately”, it added.
The department stated that the sample positivity rate of the State was higher than the National average at 9%. It said that the weekly sample positivity rate had increased rapidly from 4% in the last week of August to 18% this week (highest till date).
Dimapur district was the worst hit as more than half of the cases were in Dimapur (54%) followed by Kohima (30%), it added. The percentage of traced contacts, in the State, among confirmed cases have also increased from 7% in July to 56% as of this week, the department said.
In its weekly bulletin issued on October 24, the department revealed that the increasing positivity among patients attending flu clinics in hospitals was worrying. It said most of them did not have travel history or known contact with a positive case-- an indication of community transmission.
It may be recalled that the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on October 18 admitted that India was in the community transmission stage.
However, he added that it was limited only to certain districts and States. “We continue to see uncontrolled spread in closed settings like offices, restaurants, bakeries, religious communities, increasing risk elsewhere,” H&FW stated on Saturday.
In its report last week, the department had warned of uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 in Nagaland, which could lead to a shift towards community transmission. According to the department, this has increased the risk of spread in the community, adding “these are settings where super spreader events happen.”
The department had said that normally one COVID-19 case can infect only one or two people, but super-spreader events occur where more than 10 to 15 cases or even hundreds are infected in a single event. Super-spreader events will easily lead to community transmission.