Public apathy to corona pandemic is shocking

It is very unfortunate that even after six months people are not used to and habituated to practicing very important but very simple precautions to counter the Coronavirus . This is true not only with respect to India but everywhere else in the world also.

The World Health Organization and the Governments of different Countries repeatedly emphasise on: wearing of face mask, using of sanitizer very often and avoiding crowds. But people are negligent and ignoring these three simple observations or practices. It is very much glaring in India. We see normally on our way to office the masses crowding together and indulging in endless conversations without wearing masks and no sanitizer nearby.

When the Maharashtra State stood first in number of positive cases and number of active cases, it was compelled to take certain coercive measures. Now in Pune all Police are on roads to collect the challans from the general public :Rs 500 for failure of wearing a face mask for the first time and Rs 1000 for any next time ( Pune District is leading the number of positive cases in the Country of late) . The same strict implementation is being done already in the States/UTs like Delhi and Odisha.

In Delhi the police are collecting even for open spitting also. It reminds me of my duties as the Observer to the Shahdara District in the NCT Delhi in January and February 2020. When I observed the people are openly defying the law by smoking in public places and spitting , I had summoned the District Chief Medical Officer (through the District Collector & Magistrate ) and I suggested he collect challans from all the violators of smoking and spitting in public places.

One of my cousins who is now the District Collector of Balasore (Baleswar) in Odisha appraised me he is collecting Rs 1.5 - 2 lakh daily from the public for not wearing the mask . If the situation is like that in a small district one can visualise how the situation is grave in dense districts like Mumbai , Thane and Pune !!

In the wake of Covid-19 the production, supply and maintenance of oxygen got enormous significance as the typical feature of this virus is the patient suffers with breathing problems and ultimately it leads to fatality. The supply of oxygen to the patient is crucial in rejuvenating the breathing and thereby snatching away the patient from the clutches of death. Entire Country was awakened to the dire need of more oxygen supply when eight patients of private hospitals have been shifted to Government General Hospital due to lack of Oxygen in Ahmedabad.

In order to ensure the continuous supply of oxygen the Union Government has issued serious instructions to all the States to facilitate hassle- free movement of vehicles carrying oxygen. The Maharashtra Government has accorded the 'status of Ambulance' to the vehicles carrying oxygen. Means it will get priority in the transport compared to any other vehicle. All oxygen production units multiplied their production by working for three shifts at the behest of the State Govt. The Hospitals dedicated to Covid patients have been ensured 80 per cent of total production by a special order. The State govt officials of Excise and Drugs & Pharmaceuticals departments were kept at the manufacturing facilities round the clock to keep constant watch.

When the govt and officials works day and night to protect the lives of people, some unscrupulous elements work the other way round. During my visit to one hospital with more than 100 beds as part of inspection of exorbitant medical bills the Director of the Hospital aired his grievance regarding this. The neighbouring colony people who were mostly the retired people troubled the hospital by objecting to the sound during the filling up oxygen from a tanker to the storage reservoir of the hospital. The neighbours also petitioned the Municipal Corporation to close the hospital as the vehicles carried oxygen creating noise.

How cruel and senseless these people were !! The general public who are at their safe carved houses should have been more sympathetic to the hospital which has been treating thousands of Covid patients during this pandemic ( I advised them to take the help of police if they repeat nuisance or post a video on social media so that the people would understand how mean those people were).

As far as supply of medicine including the crucial medicines like Remdesivir, Flavipiravir, etc are concerned the supply has been streamlined very much. The Drug Controller's constant vigil on each and every supplier makes the way through. The Agencies are directly being contacted by the patient/Attendant and they are being supplied without fail. Black marketing of these high-end drugs come to negligible.

As per the statement of Union Health Minister Dr Harshavardhan the PM Bharatiya Jan Aushadhi Kendras meant to provide supply of medicine and drugs at an affordable cost to the general public started the sales of Face masks, sanitizers and other Covid- related items.

The students are more affected social group during this extraordinary pandemic situation which is unprecedented in the human history of last one century. Particularly the School Students are worst affected. The Central Govt issued guideline to open the Schools for the Standards of 9 to 12 from November 01. But this is on voluntary basis while observing all COVID precautions. The Odisha Govt and declared it as Zero Academic as for the students , but the details are not known. The Himachal Pradesh Govt trying to open the Schools on an experimental basis. As a response to the pandemic situation most of the States relaxed the total quantum of the syllabus for the School students. The Governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana reduced the burden of 30% syllabus on the similar lines.

Another important development took place with regard to the the terminology of COVID-19. Participating in a debate most of the MPs objected to the phrase of Social Distance. They pointed out it is reminding the social stigma already prevalent in the Indian Society. Accepting their point the Chairman of Rajya Sabha and the Vice President of India suggested the phrase Safe Distance instead of Social Distance.

Almost of all States have started all kinds of economic activity. Maharashtra Govt has issued standard operating procedure for the hospitality sector. Timeline for submission of Life certificate for the pensioners has been extended up to December 31, 2020. To meet the demand of more Doctors the Andhra Pradesh started four new Medical Colleges. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is all set to announce the schedule to conduct the polls for the Bihar Legislative Assembly. The Railways have started the operation of 80 passenger trains to different destinations. In all 7 Metro cities the Metro Rail started its operation in all lines to the fullest scale.

All said and done with a regular observation of three or four precautions the people can skip the wrath of corona virus. Mainly the five leading States namely Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh should take the lead to contain the spread of virus. Particularly the 35 districts which are contributing for half of total cases of the Country should display an exemplary performance regarding this. In other words 100 odd top class Officials will now direct the drive against this dreaded virus.

(The author is Joint Commissioner of IncomeTax and Enquiry and Inspection Authority into exorbitant medical bills by Corporate and Private Hospitals on COVID-19 patients, Pune.)