The Union Health Ministry had on Tuesday flagged eight states that were exhibiting a reproductive number or R-value of more than one. Although Manipur’s R-value isn’t over one, it is showing an increasing trend.
An R-value indicates the speed at which Covid-19 is spreading in an area. It is a measure that highlights the number of people a coronavirus-positive person infects, thereby reflecting the severity of its spread. A number of one or below one indicates a slowly spreading virus, while any number above one indicates a rapid spread.
Eight states and UTs, including Manipur, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are a huge cause of concern for the government.
The worrying surge has prompted the Centre to rush a multi-disciplinary team to the northeastern state which will aid in monitoring and helping the authorities to check the spread of the coronavirus.
Central Government deploys a multi-disciplinary team to Manipur in view of rising number of COVID-19 cases being reported in the state.The team will aid state’s ongoing efforts in #COVID19 management.
— Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) August 4, 2021
Also, of the 44 districts across 12 states and UTs that are reporting more than 10 per cent weekly positivity rate, several are in Manipur.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Joint Secretary from Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said that two Manipur districts are also among the 18 districts across six states that are reporting an increasing trend in daily new cases during the last four weeks.
The state on Wednesday reported 753 new cases as its total tally moved past the one lakh milestone. The cumulative number of active and positive cases in the state stands at 9,490 and 1,00,625 respectively.
With this, the state which has a population of about 30 lakh, has become only the second Northeastern state – after Assam – with over one lakh confirmed Covid-19 cases, The Wire reported.
In terms of test positivity rate or TPR too, Manipur has been maintaining an average of over 10 per cent – more than double than that of the national 5 per cent – since the first week of June. In fact, last week, it had the second-highest TPR of 13.94 per cent in the entire country.
Experts from the state point out the government’s laidback response for the spike in cases. They also attributed the state’s lackadaisical approach to Covid management to the absence of a health minister. The state’s last health minister, L. Jayantkumar Singh, who held the post in the Biren Singh government, was dropped from the cabinet in September last year. He has not been replaced.
The Manipur government had imposed a statewide curfew till August 3. Fresh curbs are yet to be announced.
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