The Government must translate its assurances into action in the fight against Omicron

The Capital has plummeted to another dubious landmark while matching wits with the latest mutant of the Coronavirus, Omicron, which is said to be clinically less severe but several times more transmissible; and the mandatory seven-day quarantine for all passengers coming in from abroad is a welcome decision. On Friday, the city crossed the 17,000-mark after registering 15,097 fresh COVID-19 cases (with six deaths) on Thursday, with the positivity rate jumping to 15.34 per cent. With the infection toll rising to 25,127 in Delhi, it was a 41 per cent jump in fresh cases over the previous day’s figures. According to a study by the Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi, the Capital is one of the hotspots for the prevalent COVID-19 pandemic in India, the others being Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. All these States are seeing a significant surge in Coronavirus infections by the new variant. With experts pointing out that migration is a major factor for spread of the infection in all these States, it is incumbent upon the Governments to meticulously monitor travel to and from these States. Now the important question is how prepared the Capital is to counter the spread of the latest variant. By all accounts, it appears, hardly.

The Government machinery, of course, is making the right sounds, issuing advisories left, right and centre and airing bombastic plans on how well prepared it is in terms of medical manpower, hospital beds, oxygen supply and suchlike necessary items to contain the spread of the infection. However, the ground reality is an entirely different story; the advisories and orders notwithstanding, but there is hardly any implementation. People roam around maskless, sanitisers are evaporating from the reception areas of commercial and industrial establishments, COVID-appropriate behaviour is being flouted with impunity. Similar was the scene at the height of the second COVID wave last year, when the Government’s tall claims about its medical preparedness were bitterly exposed, unfortunately at the cost of hundreds of innocent lives. The only silver lining this time round is that the eligible children are showing no hesitancy in taking the jab. The AAP Government must ensure that all arrangements are in battle-ready state; maybe it can have a dry run to assess its state of preparedness before, god forbid, the floodgates open. Less talk and more work, must be its motto.