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Vol XXX No. 175
DIMAPUR, MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2020 Pages 12 ` 5.00
Herd immunity strategy risky: Mande
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No place for complacency: PM Need to be more vigilant and follow guidelines NEW DELHI, MAY 31 (AGENCIES): In a note of caution on the last day of the fourth phase of nationwide lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that while the union government was taking steps to allow restart of most of the economic activity in the country, people have to ensure that they are not complacent and take more precaution against coronavirus pandemic. Speaking for the first time after union home ministry issued guidelines on Saturday to restart economic activity in a phased manner, Modi said that social distancing, use of mask and washing of hands is not just import for personal safety and hygiene but it also like a service to the country. “Covid-19 is very much there and we cannot be complacent. Keep fighting. Wear masks. Wash hands. Take all other precautions. Every life is precious,” PM
Narendra Modi
Modi said in his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’. The PM also emphasised that the road ahead against the fight on covid-19 is long because the country and world is fighting against a pandemic about which little was previously known and there was no cure of the disease. Modi said that every Indian has played a part in the battle against covid-19 because everyone has suffered the losses, and we are all sad about it but it is the collective will and strength of the people that has minimised the losses. Modi said India has managed to control the number of deaths due to covid-19. “When last time I spoke with you in Mann Ki Baat, passenger trains, buses, air services were closed but this
time curbs have been lifted. Shramik Special trains, other special trains and flights have resumed with adequate precautionary measures. A major part of economy is active now. There should be no laxity in maintaining six feet distance, wearing masks and staying indoors as much as possible. We need to be more vigilant now,” he added. Modi also said that the fight against coronavirus pandemic is driven by the people of the country and it is need of the hour to get support of everyone in the battle against covid-19, being fought by the nation. Talking about the plight of the financially weaker section and migrant labourers, Modi said that there was no section in the country which not suffering but the worst affected were poor and migrant labourers. “There is no section in our country that is unaffected by the difficulties caused by the disease. But the worst affected are the poor and the labourers. Their pain, their agony, and their ordeal can’t be expressed in words,” PM said. PM said the plight of migrant labourers which
was visible to everyone gives the country an opportunity to assess what has happened in the past and the steps needed to be taken for the future. Modi further said that the pain and sufferings of migrant labourers and poor was witnessed by the entire country and it was mainly the suffering of people in the eastern parts of the country. He said eastern India has the potential to be the growth engine of the country. “The progress of eastern parts of India is important not only for the region but also for a balanced economic development of the country. The union government has continuously worked to give priority to the region from the day I was given the opportunity by the people. We have accomplished a lot in this direction but after seeing the plight of migrant labourers, it is now even more important to take new steps for the region,” Modi said. PM also said that while there was natural calamity which was caused by cyclone in West Bengal and Odisha, there were several parts of the country that were under attack from locusts.
nagalandpostofficial nagalandpostofficial
Emergency declared in Los Angeles over protests international, Page 9
Big challenges ahead for Nagaland against COVID-19 Staff Reporter
D I M A P U R , M AY 3 1 (NPN): COVID-19 positive cases in Nagaland is rising each day as results of samples tested at the state’s first and presently only Bio Safety Laboratory-3 continue the herculean task of testing all of the 1463 returnees from Chennai who arrived Nagaland on May 22. On Sunday, test results of the swab samples, confirmed that seven were positive for COVID-19 and taking the total COVID-19 cases in Nagaland to 43. Informed sources believe that transmission of the virus could have taken place during the journey from Chennai on May 19 and the source(s) had high viral load. Viral load, relates to the number of viral particles being carried by an infected individual and shed into their environment. There was also no social distancing in the train that brought several thousand returnees belonging to Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur etc. To put matters in perspective on COVID-19
pandemic, that has arrived and will remain for as many years, NE8 (YouTube channel) interviewed Dr. Tina who is heading the BSL3 set up in NHAK. According to Dr. Tina, now that COVID-19 has made its presence, there was urgent need to prevent community transmission at all cost. If community spread takes place then it would be a catastrophe, particular in most far flung districts where the health care facilities were woefully inadequate to handle the virus. As a measure to contain the virus, she said institutional quarantine period should be for a total of 28 days- first 14 days during which testing is done and then second testing during the next 14 days. However, since the virus can survive for 37 days within the body, she felt that the total number of days can be for 40 days. It may be mentioned that Kerala, which has been successful in containing COVID-19 extended quarantine period to 28 days. It was done after it was found
that those returnees from abroad were asymptomatic for a long time and tested positive much after their quarantine period ended. According to a virologist, the most important lesson that should be learnt was that even asymptomatic people can spread the virus – beyond 14 days. Dr. Tina was candid to suggest that all decisions should be based on sound medical and scientific basis. Dr. Tina suggested short and long term strategies including counselling for the COVID-19 patients and their families. Expounding on the short term strategy, Dr. Tina suggested the following: 1. As necessary precaution, all returnees from Chennai be treated as COVID-19 positive as low viral load was not easily detected; 2. Ensure that all health workers and supporting staff at various quarantine centres and hospitals be given adequate support; 3. Strict social distancing should be enforced at all quarantine centres; 4. Returnees should not be packed inside buses together; (Cont’d on p-8)
Nagaland COVID-19 +ve cases increase to 43 Over 2000 expected ENCSU threatens to disturb further spreading of the infection, officials said. Results of 1019 awaited: Out of 2576 cumulative COVID19 suspected samples sent for testing, 1514 had tested negative and 43 positive cases, while reports of 1019 were awaited. Further, out of 86 samples tested by TrueNat machine, 82 were negative and results four awaited.
Nationwide tally nears 2L
DIMAPUR, MAY 31 (NPN): COVID-19 positive cases in Nagaland Sunday jumped to 43 after seven fresh cases were detected-- 4 in Dimapur and 3 in Kohima. Informing this on twitter, Health & Family Welfare minister S Pangnyu Phom said out of 92 samples tested-- 4 females and 3 males, all Chennai returnees, tested positive. All the patients have been kept under medical observation at
the designated COVID-19 hospitals. As on May 31, out of 43-- 27 were asymptomatic, 16 symptomatic with mild symptoms, Health department stated. So far, all 43 positive cases were returnees from Chennai. On May 22, 1463 stranded citizens of Nagaland, that included students, employees of various firms and children, arrived from Chennai. Active surveillance has been set in motion to prevent
PTI Adds: India registered its highest single-day spike of COVID-19 cases on Sunday with 8,380 new infections reported in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s tally to 1,82,143, while the death toll rose to 5,164, according to the Union Health Ministry. According to the health ministry data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 65,168, followed by Tamil Nadu at 21,184, Delhi at 18,549, Gujarat at 16,343, Rajasthan at 8,617, Madhya Pradesh at 7,891 and Uttar Pradesh at 7,445.
to arrive Nagaland peace if ENPO demand not met
DIMAPUR, MAY 31 (NPN): Over 2000 stranded citizens are expected to arrive Nagaland in the next coming days. During the daily briefing Sunday, principal secretary home, Abhijit Sinha stated that a special train carrying around 1,600 stranded citizens was expected to arrive from Bengaluru on June 5, 2020. The train is scheduled to leave Bengaluru on June 2. He also informed that another special train which left Goa on May 28, 2020 carrying about 435 stranded persons of Nagaland along with persons from other North Eastern States was expected to reach Lumding, by June 1 early hours. The returnees will then be transported to Dimapur by another train. Further, 85 people were expected to arrive on June 1 around 1.30 a.m. from Delhi by train. According to a report of the empowered group Dimapur control room, 71 stranded persons arrived on May 31. They include-- 45 persons from Delhi by train, 17 from West Bengal by bus, 5 by private vehicle from Delhi, 3 by road from Guwahati and 1 by road from Guwahati (flew from Bengaluru).
D I M A P U R , M AY 3 1 (NPN): Eastern Nagaland College Students’ Union (ENCSU) has threatened to “disturb peace” if the State government failed to meet the demand of Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) regarding the Tuensang fiasco. ENPO had demanded initiating of disciplinary action against those officials involved in the mismanagement that led to a COVID19 positive person being sent to Tuensang along with other passengers. In a release, ENCSU president M Longre Chang and general secretary Wangnei C Jessuhu also warned that if any untoward incident occurred, the State government would be held responsible, adding the union would never remain silent until its genuine rights were met. Strongly demanding
that the names of officials involved in sending a returnee to Eastern Nagaland without following any safety protocol should be made public, the duo accused the State government of violating the Disaster Management Act, safety protocols and standard operating procedure (SOP) of COVID-19. It termed the incident as a “cold blooded murder.” ENCSU asked the government not to delay making public the names of officials responsible for the incident or hide them, as this could lead to other problems. Terming the setting up of a judicial inquiry committee and giving it a 15-day timeline to complete the investigation as just a waste of time, ENCSU urged the government to reduce the timeline as the probe could be completed within a week. (Cont’d on p-8)
1 held after trying to escape from QC D I M A P U R , M AY 3 1 (NPN): A 21 year old male who was admitted at K Badze quarantine centre, Kohima reportedly tried to escape on May 31 at around 1.30 p.m. but was caught by police. A letter by medical officer of K Badze Quarantine Centre, Dr Shasinlo Magh that went viral on social media, mentioned that the security personnel found out that inmate broke open the window grill and escaped through it. The inmate, who was to travel to Manipur from Uttar Pradesh, was admitted on May 24. Sources said that the inmate was caught by police.
Around 1L NE people have returned so far
GUWAHATI, MAY 31 (AGENCIES): Over 1 lakh stranded labourers who originally belong to North East have returned home through Shramik Special trains so far. Talking to AIR, CPRO of North East Frontier Railway S. Chanda informed that running of the Shramik Special trains will continue as per requirement of the State governments. He also said that 6 passenger trains will be run by the NFR from June 1. He said that 3 of them will run in Assam while 3 remaining trains will be operated in other States.
BAN appeals to landlords
D I M A P U R , M AY 3 1 (NPN): Business Association of Nagas (BAN) has appealed to landlords to either waive rents where possible or give 50% discounts on rents to Naga entrepreneurs, at least till the time the lockdown period is over. BAN in release stated that it was happy to learn that some generous landlords had waived off rent of their tenants, adding it also understood that some of them might even depend on rental income for their livelihoods. Pointing out that the landlords who had taken bank loans can avail moratorium till August 31 as announced by Reserve Bank of India, BAN observed that the economy has been badly hurt and businesses have suffered in the State with very little or no income in many cases ever since the lockdown started on March 25. (Cont’d on p-8)
New method to help epidemiologists map COVID spread NPCC slams state govt IAF aircraft flies medical NEW YORK, MAY 31 (IANS): Researchers have developed a method they believe will help epidemiologists predict more efficiently the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, published in the journal Physica D:
This is it!
“If only HSSLC exam was held online, I would have scored very high marks.” K Y M C
Nonlinear Phenomena, outlines a solution to the ‘SIR’ epidemic model, which is commonly used to predict how many people are susceptible to, infected by, and recovered from viral epidemics. The method has been created by researchers from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in the US. They said that by using this solution to the model, epidemiologists can quickly forecast many different scenarios of how COVID-19 could spread, based on a variety of variables. Projections produced by mathematical models help public officials make policy decisions about when to impose and lift restrictions aimed at flattening the curve of infection rates. The applied mathematicians who developed
the method said they were excited to find a way to apply their skills to help combat the pandemic. “We saw a popular article out there about the ‘SIR’ model, saw that our method could speed the process up and we quickly wrote the paper,” said study author Nathaniel Barlow, Associate Professor in Rochester Institute of Technology. “Our goal was to get better tools to the experts who are fighting this disease,” Barlow added. The method was based on solutions they previously developed to very different problems in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and predicting the trajectories of light around black holes. They have worked extensively with undergraduate students on those problems over the past six years and found that
the solution to the ‘SIR’ epidemic model had a very similar mathematical structure. Although the authors haven’t previously worked in the field of epidemiology, their previous work was translated seamlessly to this new field. “We serve an important function to provide algorithms to support scientific inquiry and prediction. The technique we have developed here is general to many different fields,” the study authors wrote. As of Sunday morning, the overall number of cases worldwide stood at 6,059,017, while the death toll increased to 369,106, according to the Johns Hopkins University. Currently, the US has 1,770,165 confirmed cases and 103,776 deaths, both tallies account for the highest in the world.
for committing blunders
DIMAPUR, MAY 31 (NPN): Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has accused the State government of repeatedly committing serious blunders in the name of taking flexible approach to fight COVID-19. Alleging that frequent changes in quarantine rules were more due to administrative convenience than any medical reasons, the State Congress unit in a release averred that the ineptness of political leadership was creating more confusion among the government machinery. This was jeopardising the lives of both healthcare workers and other frontline workers, besides risking returnees and citizens, it added. According to NPCC, the only welcome devel-
opment was renovation of Ganeshnagar Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Dimapur town for converting it into institutional quarantine centre, as this sprawling 1000 acre estate was left almost abandoned for over 17 years. The party thanked chief minister Neiphiu Rio for finally remembering and visiting the industrial estate, which he had allegedly conveniently ignored all these years in his quest for narrow development approach that had only benefited his coteries and cronies. NPCC further alleged that the past 17 years with Rio as chief minister most of the time was about commitments for all, but development only in his area of interest. (Cont’d on p-8)
supplies to Nagaland
IAF C130 J Super Hercules at Dimapur airport, Sunday.
DIMAPUR, MAY 31 (NPN): An Indian Air Force (IAF) C130 J Super Hercules aircraft, with medical supplies and other items, landed at Dimapur airport Sunday evening. The aircraft transported critical medical supplies for the state. After offloading the consignment, the IAF aircraft flew back to its base. IAF has deployed its transport fleet to aid the efforts, emerging as the essential transport service for the government. According to reports, IAF transport aircraft have recently flown over hundreds of sorties ferrying several hundred tonnes of medicine, ration and other essential supplies to various parts of the country. K Y M C