Worrying devil may care conduct Other emergency cases

With over two thousand active cases RIMS and JNIMS must be under heavy pressure. The same must be true for all the other private hospitals located in Imphal, particularly at Shija, Raj Medicity and others. The State Government too must be stretched to the limit to meet the demands of the ever increasing positive cases and deaths due to the virus and this is where the public would need to reciprocate and demonstrate that they do understand the situation and chip in with their bit. This is not asking for too much for all that has been asked of the people is to adhere to the Government mandated SOPs. These include always wearing a face mask while stepping out, maintain social distancing, avoid over crowding and frequently wash one’s hand with soap and water or with a hand sanitiser. Now with the new variant of the virus taking a heavy toll, tips have been given on how to wear the mask correctly with experts even advocating that double masking up  is way more effective. Again there is the suggestion that if one does not have an N-95 face mask, then a surgical mask should go along with a cloth mask. The correct way of wearing the mask too has been demonstrated for all to see and follow. The situation is critical and Manipur too is staring at one of the most disturbing and frightening situations but disturbingly this fact does not seem to have registered in the minds of quite a number of people. A look at the number of people pulled up and fined for violating the laid down SOPs on a daily basis should tell its own significant story. The figure should say it all. The cumulative amount of money collected as fines is a stupendous Rs 1 crore, 93 lakh, 17 thousand  and 70 and this was as on May 3. With the fines collected each day crossing the one lakh amount, it will not take long for the State to reach the Rs 2 crore mark and to think that this is happening here in a place where the population strength is only about 28 lakh and the mentality of the people stands exposed in all its ugliness.
Making things harder for the Government. This is what certain people who refuse to let the reality of the situation sink into their consciousness are doing yet at the same time, it stands that the Government cannot afford to let there be any loopholes. The focus is on Covid obviously but it should also not be forgotten that there are other patients who may need emergency treatment such as accident victims. This is not shooting in the dark, but what happens if an asymptomatic person gets critically injured in a road accident ? How do doctors operate on him ? How do nurses attend to him ? Such a possibility is something that cannot be written off and this is where the Government think tank will need to put on its thinking cap and see if an arrangement can be worked out. Manipur has already seen, heard and read about the story of a how a pregnant woman died in the first wave of the pandemic last year just cause of the hurdles posed by the virus in getting admitted to a hospital. There will no easy answer to this, but yet an arrangement needs to be worked out, for afterall patients suffering from other ailments also need to be treated and nursed.