30 cases in 2 weeks: What went wrong in HP’S fight against virus
SHIMLA/DHARAMSHALA: AT the beginning of May, Himachal Pradesh was inching closer towards becoming a coronavirus-free state with only one active case.
The state seemed to have ticked all the right boxes and contained the spread of Covid-19. May 5 was the cut-off date as the state had not recorded a fresh case since April 23. The government was ready to make an announcement to this effect.
However, a day before May5, the hill-state recorded a fresh case in Joginderngar of Mandi district. Next day, a youth from Sarkaghat died of the contagion. In less than two weeks, the state recorded 30 cases. The total positive cases in HP soared to 71, including two deaths. So, what went wrong ?
MISTAKE OF OPENING THE BORDERS
The biggest mistake that the state authorities committed was to open the borders on April 26 to facilitate the return of those stranded in the other states.
Thousands of people thronged the state-borders, chocking the inter-state barriers and throwing social distancing norms to the wind. More than 50,000 people entered the state in less than a week, prompting the authorities to close its borders again. So, why the government was forced to open the borders?
The people, who were abiding by the government’s request of ‘stay put where you are’ started raising questions when two MP’S were allowed to quietly enter the state.
Further, the government’s April 23 decision of bringing back stranded students from Kota, Rajasthan, added fuel to the fire, as others began to ask, “Why only they, what about us?” They began to ask, “Why only they, what about us?”
THE BIG SPIKE
Since May 4, the state has recorded 30 cases, including one fatality. Seventy per cent of the cases had history of travelling to other states, mostly Delhi-ncr and rest were their contacts.
LACK OF RESOURCES
The state is still struggling to get rapid testing kits and there is also a dearth of PPE kits and masks. Against its demand of 30,000 rapid testing kits from the Centre, Himachal got only 4,800 kits and those were also sent back for being faulty. The state also lacks an adequate number of ventilators. Currently, there are only 60 ventilators in the health institutions across the state.