The Indian Medical Association has called for stringent measures like micro-containment and curfew for the next two weeks, which it is says is a very crucial period, as the second wave of COVID-19 sweeping through the State is spreading at an intense rate.
It was the total laxity in the part of everyone in observing COVID-19 protocols and the innumerable massive rallies and meetings with no scope for physical distancing during the poll campaigning in March, which has primarily resulted in the large-scale spread of COVID-19 in the State.
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In the light of this, the government has to strictly ensure that no celebrations or victory parades are conducted in the State on the counting day on May 2, which would be most dangerous for the State, IMA leaders said at a press conference here on Thursday.
They demanded that a curfew-like condition should be imposed in the State ahead of counting day, so that people and political party activists do not violate COVID protocols. It reminded the public that the situation involving COVID-19 in the State was quite grave and that already the occupancy in hospital beds and ICUs were rising in an alarming way. The State can in no way afford to have a situation wherein people would gather, leading to further disease transmission, it pointed out.
IMA also appealed to people to avoid all kinds of festival gatherings like poorams or iftar parties, which can all lead to increased disease transmission.
IMA also appealed to the government to streamline vaccine supply and the vaccination processes so that people do not crowd at vaccination sites. It would be dangerous if vaccination sites itself became disease dissemination centres, it said. It also demanded that Covid testing be increased to conduct one lakh tests daily so that more infectious people can be isolated. It should also be ensured that contact tracing is conducted in an efficient manner and that people are not violating quarantine norms.
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IMA pointed out that it was the emergence of mutant variants of SARS-CoV-2 which has intensified COVID transmission and that the State needed to conduct more scientific studies to generate molecular evidence in support of this theory. It was important also from the clinical point of view to understand what doctors are dealing with. Despite persistent demands by IMA for clinical data sharing during the first wave, the government had not responded adequately. It was disappointing that the State had not done any kind of clinical or academic research on COVID-19 in the State, the State Secretary of IMA, P. Gopikumar and the Vice President, N. Sulphi, said.
IMA has also asked the government to re-examine its decision to postpone MBBS and PG Medical exams. The government should have thought about the ways in which the exams can be conducted safely, so that these junior doctors can be deployed in the field in the fight against COVID-19.
