E-Paper
Centre warns against ‘revenge travellers’
New Delhi: A spurt in travel after lifting of Covid-19 restrictions — the government termed it “revenge travel” — has led to “frightening” scenes of overcrowding in hill stations that could lead to increased outbreaks of the infectious disease, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday
New Delhi: A spurt in travel after lifting of Covid-19 restrictions — the government termed it “revenge travel” — has led to “frightening” scenes of overcrowding in hill stations that could lead to increased outbreaks of the infectious disease, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.
At the ministry’s briefing on the status of the Covid-19 situation, officials shared a series of images from tourists destinations and key cities to point out “gross violations” of Covid-appropriate behaviour, saying that this could potentially nullify the progress made so far.
“Covid-appropriate behaviour is absolutely essential; the pictures that we have seen today are frightening, and we have to be very careful, responsible and cautious,” said Dr Balram Bhargava, director general, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Some of the places that were highlighted in the briefing were Manali and Shimla in Himachal Pradesh; Laxmi Nagar and Sadar Bazar in Delhi; Dadar market in Mumbai (Maharashtra); and Mussoorie in Uttarakhand.
“What we are seeing is called revenge travel after travel-related restrictions were relaxed. You can spot tourists without wearing a mask, not following the physical distancing rule even in overcrowded marketplaces, and all these leniencies will create an environment that will nullify all gains made so far in managing the viral disease in the country,” said Lav Aggarwal, joint secretary, health ministry. He warned that the challenge posed by the pandemic could be stiffer if Covid-appropriate behaviour is not followed.
Aggarwal said people must keep in mind that the easing of restrictions did not mean that the virus vanished. “The disease is very much there so it is important to adhere strictly to Covid-appropriate behaviour, as we did earlier, to avoid experiencing another wave,” Aggarwal said.
Quoting from a survey of over 30,000 respondents, Aggarwal said close to 24% of those surveyed did not wear a mask; in 45% of the people, there was limited compliance wherein the mask was not worn properly, and barely 29% complied with the rules.
With regard to social distancing norms, 63% did not follow them at all, while 25% didn’t follow safety measures while travelling. According to the survey, even in Covid-19 vaccination centres, about 6% of the attendees did not follow the necessary Covid-appropriate behaviour, Aggarwal said.
“As long as we don’t fully comply, there will always be the fear of seeing a comeback of new cases in large numbers in future,” he said.
On the rise in cases in the North-east, Bhargava said: “We are encouraging the northeastern states to do more testing... there is heavy testing going on there...” The northeastern states are reporting increased Covid-19 caseloads, with 47 of the 73 worst-affected districts in the country belonging to the region, according to government data. Arunachal Pradesh alone has high case positivity in 18 districts, followed by Rajasthan in 10, Manipur in nine, Kerala in seven and Meghalaya in six.
Experts say that following Covid-appropriate behaviour is the only way to curb disease transmission in the long run. “Vaccinating the entire population will take a long time; therefore, people will have to make behavioural changes that have been laid out by experts to prevent the disease from spreading. Wearing of masks, hand hygiene and maintaining overall cleanliness and good sanitary conditions, physical distancing, etc., is a must along with vaccination,” said Jugal Kishore, head, community medicine department, Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi.
