Manipur right on top in the regionCases surging in NE

The shift is clear. The virus has changed direction and from rampaging across the cities of the country and States like Maharashtra, it has now shifted focus and appears to set its eyes on the North Eastern region of the country. In Manipur, each day has meant rewriting the record of single day surge, with May 23 recording the highest with 767 cases. This meant rewriting the record figure of 757 which was set a day earlier on May 22. Earlier the highest single day surge was 730. For the last few days, the number of deaths on a single day has come in the double digit mark, with May 22 returning figure of 13 deaths and May 23 registering 14 deaths. The highest number of fatalities on a single day at 20 recorded a few days back still stands but no one knows when this record will be re-written. Likewise other States in North East too have seen an upsurge in the last couple of days. Meghalaya presents a disturbing picture with May 20 returning figure of 1,183 new cases. On May 19, it was 872 new cases and on May 24 the number stood at 803 with 24 deaths. With a population of about 38 lakhs this is certainly a disturbing scenario. Likewise other States in the North East has show an upward trend, with Nagaland crossing the 20,000 mark on May 23. Mizoram on the other had crossed the 10,000 mark while Arunachal Pradesh too presents a grim picture with 24,093 caseloads and taking the death toll to 98. Assam is way up there given its huge population with 3,69,183 total caseload and 2739 total deaths. This is the unfolding scenario in the North East and this has come against the run in other parts of the country where the daily spike has come down below the 3 lakh figure in the last couple of days. With studies indicating that the North East could be the next playground for the virus, all the respective State Governments have their task cut out and how well each State respond to the unfolding crisis will go to a large extent in blunting the scourge of the virus.  
Manipur is right up there on the Covid map in the North East region and this is a cause for concern. Given the way in which the virus has been running amok amongst the people, Manipur will continue to see more and more infected persons and this is a frightening reality. The State Government will need to think out of the box to see how the spread of the virus can be checked and this is where the people will need to extend all possible co-operation to the efforts taken up by the Government. How well equipped are the hospitals at the different district headquarters is a question that comes to mind. Equipping the hospitals in the other districts will surely go a long way in easing the pressure on the two principal Government run hospitals in Imphal and other private hospitals too. How about testing ? Can the Government work out some measures to increase the testing capacity in a day or is the present trend of testing about 3000 persons passable ? How has been the response of the people to the vaccination drive that has been taken up ? If more needs to be done, then what may be done ? Has the Government thought up any Plan B to convince the people to get the jabs when their turn comes ? This is a global epidemic, and unfortunately India is at the centre of it all presently. On top of this is the fact that the virus has been running amok amongst the people in the North East region and this is when the Government will need to think out of the box and strategise new ways to take the fight to the virus.