Farmers Movement Archive

Authorities blame locals after Indore witnesses spurt in Covid-19 cases

By Neha JainAfter a sudden spurt in Covid 19 cases in Madhya Pradesh's Indore, authorities blamed the locals for spreading the infection. Indore, which has 660 active cases, highest in MP, is witnessing another wave of Covid-19 infection as in the past two weeks the number of positive cases jumped by 82 per cent on Monday.The local district administration and health officials said the situation is under control but it can turn from bad to worse if people don’t get alert.The cases increased as people are not following the home isolation rules and visiting public places in large numbers without masks. People are also not maintaining social distancing, said Manish Singh, collector Indore.Covid-19 contact tracing in-charge, Dr Anil Dongre said, “The number of cases is increasing as many families are getting infected with the virus. At least 10-12 families are testing positive for the infection daily. They even don't follow Covid-19 protocols. Sometimes, we received complaints of people not following home isolation and roaming outside.”Also read: Rakesh Tikait holds out threat of Parliament siege if farm laws are not repealed“Recently, more than 20 people got infected after attending a party. How we will stop them? If people don’t get serious, the condition can turn serious like April and October last year when the positivity rate was recorded 12-13 per cent," he added.A resident, Ekta Yadav, who raised the issue of violation of home isolation in her locality a few days ago, said, “People are not showing seriousness about Covid-19. They might be fortunate that they didn't get affected due to the infection but they should at least think of others. Even, the administration and police stopped penalising people for violating guidelines.”Jitendra Singh Yadav, a social worker from Indore, said, “It is easy to blame people but the authorities will not accept that they were not doing anything to ensure the implementation of guidelines. People get serious only when authorities showed seriousness about any issue.”Indore has registered the highest number of Covid-19 fatalities in Madhya Pradesh along with those getting infected from the virus. As many as 931 patients died while 58,860 cases have been reported so far from Indore.According to the Madhya Pradesh health department report, as many as 259,721 positive cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the state.

Hindustan Times

24-02-2021

Indore