Experts have attributed factors such as the relaxation in travel restrictions and movement of migrants, for India being among the top-10 countries suffering from Corona virus infection. Experts termed it as a step to open the flood gates of the dam during the floods and also warned that in the coming days, the spread of infection may look like a wildfire.
Dr. Chandrakant S. commenting on the limited operation of rail and road transport services and the return of migrants to their homes, Pandav said, “You have opened flood gates.” Dr. Pandav is the former president of the Indian Public Health Association and the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine.
This, he said, can be called a classic case of Corona virus infection creating an ideal environment for wildfires to spread. In the coming days, cases of corona infection may increase dramatically. He said, although it is true that the lockdown cannot be kept forever, the opening of it should have been done in a more investigative and informative manner. Travel can increase the rate of spread of infection.
According to AIIMS director Randeep Guleria, currently the increase in infected cases is seen more in hotspot areas only, but due to increasing travel in the coming days, the number of people infected with Corona virus (Covid-19) will be rising in other places also.
“People with no signs of infection or early symptoms will cross into thermal screening systems and will go to areas where there are few or no cases,” he said. In such areas, the rate of infection may increase thereafter. He also said that due to the huge increase in the capacity of the corona test, the number of infected cases also appears to be increasing.
He said, if people do not pay proper attention to social distancing and cleaning of hands at the time of going out on the streets, it can be overwhelming. He said that in such a situation, transmission of infection from one person to another can spread more quickly.
Dr. Pandava and AIIMS Director Guleria both called on the government to strengthen community monitoring and surveillance to control the situation. Dr. Pandava said, now the government will have to ensure strong surveillance to overcome the infection. The AIIMS director also acknowledged that to control the spread of the epidemic, more robust surveillance is needed in areas where migrants are returning.
Dr. KK Aggarwal, President of the Confederation of Medical Association of Asia and Oceania (CMAAO), said that if migrants continue to arrive without proper social distancing, then there will be more upsurge in cases of infection in the coming days. Former President of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dr. Aggarwal said, the number of infected will cross 2 lakhs in the next 10 days.
The increase in infection until the end of the third lockdown and continued in the fourth lockdown also shows that people have not followed the required physical distance. “In spite of the high temperature in late May, the increasing number of infected cases means that the transfer of infection from human to human is happening more than it can reach from a surface to human.”
