To review and assess the lockdown detectives implementing in Kohima district, Minister-in-charge for Kohima district, Minister, PWD (Housing and Mechanical), Tongpang Ozukum along with Advisor for Technical Education and Election, Medo Yhokha had a review meeting with the District Task Force in DC's Office Kohima on 17th May 2021.
Minister, Tongpang said imposition of total lockdown was necessitated because of the alarming positive cases being detected in many parts of the State during the random tests. He therefore on behalf of Kohima DTF requested and appealed to the people to abide by the directives and strictly follow the SOPs at all time.
Ozukum said that with the approval of the higher authority, the DTF has ban home delivery services of non-essential commodities during this lockdown since it was felt that people can survive without such services for seven days. Therefore the DTF reiterated that it will continue to strictly impose home delivery services besides other imposition.
"The fight against COVID-19 pandemic is a common battle, so we must stand together" said Tongpang and added that as much as the frontline workers have been selflessly working day and night putting their lives at risk for the people, public should be responsible and sensible enough and continue to give their fullest cooperation to the enforcing agencies and the government.
The Minister also said that at present, almost 80% of the beds at Meriema Covid Hospital and Covid Care Centre Meriema is occupied which is quite alarming and needs immediate attention. Therefore in this regard Kohima DTF will propose to the higher authority for setting up another Covid Hospital at an ideal location on war footing, he informed.
"It is understood that to remain at home for seven days is quite inconvenient, awkward and boring also, not to talk about putting on hold many other important activities. We are also losing out as many things but we have few alternatives because it is a matter of human life. This pandemic has given us choice between health and life over convenience", he said.
In the backdrop of the Medical and District Administration faculties getting overwhelmed with increasing health and COVID related crisis, Advisor, Medo Yhokha, commented that the two institutions should stand firmly grounded and strong, to effectively response to the challenges posed by the pandemic. In the indifferent attitude of the general public in following SOPs and prescribed guidelines laid by the Government in containing the pandemic, these two and all other frontline agencies are being compelled to expose and response to all kinds of threatening situations, and once the frontline workers institutions collapse over, our whole system will go out of proportions. He therefore said that the community and the individuals have to take collective responsibility, if not our status on the pandemic is not going to lead us into any better situation.
With today’s report on the observation of lockdown measures in the state capital, Yhokha said that, citizens have taken maximum advantages on the little relaxations that have been extended to the citizens. If this trend is to continue within the general public than the DTF have to change the whole perspective and come about with more stringent rules and measures, in order to secure the lives of her citizens. Going by with the present figure on random sampling test results, he opined that, the results are indicating a gloom reality with a very high rate of positive cases in the district, and therefore, under such condition the District may have to go through further extended weeks of severe lockdowns.
He stated that the Government of the day is giving out its best resources and efforts, rolling out all available machineries, to give vision, hope and directions to its people, to salvage the society for the pandemic; however it is and will practically be impossible for any government and our government too to monitor nor control everything that is going around in the society, until and unless the society and the individuals collectively respond and take the call responsibly together. All exercises and measures initiated by the government will prove futile and so will all the lives.
The Advisor also appealed to the general public not to be swayed away and be overwhelmed with information’s disseminated through social media, about COVID-19. He urged everyone to be sensible and responsible to our practical situations primarily. “This is a situation where everyone have to fight together to overcome and not fight on the lapses that had happened”, he added.
(DPRO, Kohima)