Hill stations’ crowd scary, Govt warns against laxity
The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday expressed concern over people roaming in hill stations and markets without following COVID-19-appropriate behaviours and warned that such laxity can nullify the gains made in the management of the pandemic so far.
Stressing that the pandemic was not yet over, officials described the images of large numbers of people thronging popular hill stations as “frightening”.
“People need to understand that th e virus and the disease is still here. People roaming in hill stations and markets without maintaining physical distance and not we aring masks can nullify the gains made in the management of the pandemic so far,” joint secreta ry in the health ministry Lav Agarwal said as he stressed on following COVID-appropriate behaviour and vaccination.
Ag arwal said as 73 districts across 17 states and union territories, including Arunachal Pradesh (18 districts), Rajasthan (10), Manipur (9), Kerala (7), Meghalaya (6), Tripura (4), Sikkim (4), Odisha (3) an d Nagaland (3), reported more than 10 per cent Covid positivity rate in the week from June 29 to July 5.
Eighty per cent of the new cases in India are being reported from 90 districts across 14 states and UTs, including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, indicating the need for focused attention in these areas, he said.
Stating that the pictures from hill stations and markets are “frightening”, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said some states in the country are still struggling with the second wave of COVID-19. “The areas reporting a test positivity rate of over 10 per cent have to impose/ reinstate certain restrictive measures which have shown to be time tested and found to be effective because the virus is still lurking around,” he said.