The dreaded word ‘superspreader’ is used for people, often stuck to their foreheads like stigmata. Rightfully, it should be used for events that cause a spike in infections. Humans are only victims of those. Travel is the real superspreader. It is the movement of people out of Wuhan that carried the virus to the world.
We now face a paradox. Four lockdowns have left the lungs of India’s economy choking, and travel has to be resumed—air, rail, road. But the results are palpable. Karnataka was breaking even with Covid-19, having taken 68 days (March 8 to May 15) to touch 1,000 positive cases. But the next dubious milestone—2,000 cases—was reached in nine days flat. Higher volumes of testing, cited by some, were not reached only in this period. Yes, Karnataka’s tally of 2,182 looks positively benign seen against that of its neighbour, Maharashtra, with its scary 52,600+ cases. (The political row next door, with demands of President’s rule flying thick and fast, are an extra.) It also compares well against Tamil Nadu’s 17,728 cases.
Bengaluru has been deemed a ‘model city’, apparently for having wrestled Covid-19 down (as of now) with high-tech contact tracing and a dependable healthcare system. No city of Kerala has found a mention in New Delhi’s list of good performers—maybe the price of all the international attention. But Karnataka needs to worry for the same reason as everyone else: the open sesame policy.
Yes, there is no option but to absorb moving people—migrant labour or those in search of their roots—but it needs to massively ramp up quarantine and other facilities.
People returning from Maharashtra are a concern. Areas where the pandemic had been controlled, or hitherto green zones, are slipping back. Desperate to pick up the thread of livelihoods, Karnataka cannot lose sight of the ball. Quarantine must be a sacred mantra. Even VIPs must behave.
