THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the state going through the second wave of Covid-19, its severity exacerbated after the violation of Covid -19 protocol during the assembly elections, the health experts caution against any kind of social functions and implementation of strict crowd control until the curve of Covid-19 is flattened.
While experts maintain that the blame can’t be put fully on the elections, they agree that elections played a crucial part in the spread. As we move forward to the date of counting and the festival season, health experts share their worry and call for major control on crowds and strictly going back to the basics and ‘Break the Chain’.
Health experts echo that the lack of political will during the elections played a part and remark that all crowd control measures need to be implemented in the strictest of forms. A mere reduction in the number of people attending programmes and social events is not going to help, according to health experts.
“It’s been two months since the second wave started. The second wave is always more difficult to contain than the first wave. The infectivity rate of the virus is higher and it leads to a super spread. The non-adherence to Covid-19 protocols during the elections has been one of the reasons for its fast spread. But what can be done is going back to the basics, strictly following Covid-19 norms, mass vaccination, and the public should refrain themselves from all public gatherings. Be it festivals or other family functions, it needs to be called off. Because scientifically speaking, reducing the number of attendees at a function isn’t going to help. Crowding has to be contained and people need to be proactive in this regard,” says Dr Gopikumar P, state secretary, Indian Medical Association (IMA).
Dr S S Lal, a health expert who also contested from the Kazhakootam constituency in the assembly polls says that the lack of political will was evident during the electioneering process. “There should have been some mechanism to control all this from the side of the government. When the chief minister himself was seen flouting Covid-19 norms, it became the norm among all the other parties. The parties should have come to an understanding to control the campaigns but none of that happened,” says Dr S S Lal.
“We are caught in the middle of a super spread situation. It’s time the government launched stringent measures and called for the postponement of every social event until the curve is flattened. It shouldn’t be enforced through police which will criminalise things. It’s a pandemic and people should be taken into confidence. People will listen but the government has to set an example. A consensus needs to be reached among the political parties to call off any public gathering on May 2,” he added.
Enraged by the lackadaisical attitude of political parties which saw every other front flouting all the Covid-19 norms for their political gains, Kollam-based advocate Vinod Mathew Wilson had approached the High Court petitioning for a lockdown from midnight of May 1 to May 2, the date of counting.
“We have seen how the police and government machinery played a part in flouting all Covid-19 norms during the election campaign. No cases were taken against anyone. If you have power and money, does that mean the rules of the land do not apply to you? The public has been made fools yet again and it is this that made me file the petition. I am talking from a layman’s perspective. If no initiative is taken, then they could make a mockery of us and the law on May 2 too,” says advocate Vinod Mathew Wilson.
Dr Vijayakrishnan G S, state president of Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) has opined that while the elections only accelerated the arrival of the spread of Covid-19, it can’t be pointed out as the major cause.
“The second wave has arrived in states where there were no elections. New variants of the virus have arrived. We can’t pinpoint one major social event that is due to occur on May 2. Rather, everyone, every political leader, religious leader should reach a consensus and decide that no social events and major events are conducted and strict Covid-19 protocols are followed for the next three weeks. That’s the only way to stop the spread,” says Dr Vijayakrishnan.