No reason for anyone to panic–Panellists

Our Reporter
Dimapur, June 7 (EMN): As most Covid-19 cases in Nagaland are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic from only among the returnees and with no report of community spreading, panellists were of the view that there was no need for panic but to be prepared.

Panellists expressed this view during a webinar panel discussion on ‘Covid-19 in Nagaland’ organised by the Naga Scholars’ Association (NSA) on June 6. The panel discussion was organised to address the issues and challenges in the state and to find possible ways and directions in combating the Covid-19 pandemic.

The panellists consisted of Mmhonlumo Kikon, advisor of IT&C, Science and Technology; Monalisa Changkija, proprietor, publisher and editor of Nagaland Page; Abhishek Singh, CEO mygov.in; Dr. Sedevi Angami, director of CIHSR; Dr. Abraham Lotha, a catholic priest and an anthropologist.
Angami said that there was no need for any panic as almost all of the cases in Nagaland are asymptomatic or very mildly symptomatic and are of returnees category. However, he said since there was no documented community spread, it is difficult to categorically say there is community spreading.

At the same time, he said that a lot of preparation and improvement was taking place and will continue to do so. Likewise, he said the government’s decision to provide ‘TrueNat’ testing facility to every district was a good and important decision.

“Nobody in this world can ever be fully prepared,” said Angami while stating that the preparedness question was not a good question to be asking.

Furthermore, he said that it is worth spending a lot of money on the TrueNat testing facility as the state is currently dealing with mass surveillance, where TrueNat would take just 30 minutes to get the test results.

Stating that there was but little knowledge (and is still struggling to find answers) about this pandemic, Singh said the most important part of the Covid-19 campaign was the tests.

Maintaining that the virus would eventually reach Nagaland, Singh said the coming of virus in the state doesn’t mean any reason for anyone to panic but to prepare instead.

Stating that there are enough PPE for the whole of the state, he emphasised on the need to trust the frontline workers and ensure that “we do not create the atmosphere of mistrust towards them.”

“Till such time where there is a vaccine or cure, we will have to live with the virus,” said Singh.

Having two months to prepare beforehand, Changkija said, the state government still haven’t seem to find its feet on how to deal with the multi-dimensional issues that have spiked in the recent days.

She said that the main problem was the absence of the decisive and efficient political leadership in Nagaland. This, she said, clearly connotes the absence of ideas within the leaders.

“I believe the pandemic has created a space and a scope for Nagaland to begin all over again and possibly write a new social contract,” said Changkija.