Low count of daily cases in last few days Lessons from the past

From the high of July and August, when the daily surge in the number of positive cases was high, very high, running into the higher side of the three figure mark with some days even crossing the four figure mark, September has definitely seen a lull in the daily number of new cases. The death toll in the month of September has also seen a marked decline with not a single day witnessing the number of deaths in double digits so far. The highest number of deaths seen till date in the current month is 6, recorded back on September 2. The daily positivity rate too has not touched the 10 percent mark so far in the current month and this is definitely a welcome development from the earlier months when Manipur recorded the daily positivity rate always above the 10 percent mark with some days even touching the 20 percent mark as seen on July 26, when Manipur ran up a daily positivity rate of 20.2 percent. Things seem to be improving, as in other parts of the country, and while this is definitely a welcome development, this is all the more reason to take steps accordingly to ensure that Manipur does not see another round as vicious as the second wave of the pandemic. Like in the rest of the country, Manipur too was caught totally unaware when the second wave came and extracted a heavy toll from the people and the land and if at all there is a lesson to be learnt, then it is to take up all possible steps to see that the next wave or the third wave does not catch the people and the State on the wrong foot. This is also the right time for the State to reflect and study how religiously its agencies stuck by the prescribed recommendations given by the World Health Organisation and the Indian Council of Medical Research.
As repeated many times here in any commentary concerning the pandemic, the virus is still out there. It is just a matter of the spread slowing down and this is the primary reason why the State Government and the people cannot be caught off guard. One cannot afford to see a repeat of those days when the first wave waned and people started throwing caution to the wind literally throwing open the doors for the virus to create havoc amongst the people. The number of positive cases per day, however low the number may be, should more than say that the virus is still out there and Manipur is far from breaking the chain of transmission. As stated earlier here, it is just a case of the transmission rate slowing down and care and caution can be thrown to the wind only at the peril of everyone. Apart from Imphal East and Imphal West, the focus of the Government should be on the hill districts where some hill districts register low count on one day and see a sharp spike the next day. This is not only about the new cases on a single day but also about the daily positivity rate. A district reporting a low count of new cases on one day and a high count the next day suggests something disturbing and this should be studied minutely.