Sajidah Yousuf
Srinagar, May26: Amid surge in Covid-19 cases in the prevailing second wave of the deadly pandemic, the use of masks, hand sanitizers and other precautionary tools has gone up by 60 percent as compared to the first wave of the pandemic in March 2020 last year.
Irfan Mir, a social worker from Chanapora who deals with the medicine works said that from first Wave-I of the pandemic to the second wave, a lot of positive changes have been observed among the general public, most of the people are taking all possible precautions and that is already seen on the ground level.
“There is a certain group of people that are still arrogant in taking precautions. Government is doing their job; people should also do their job and should help the authorities help to get rid of this grave situation. They still think that this pandemic is a myth or hoax. This category of people is an equal threat to the society,” Irfan said.
He said the people have got activated in taking precautions in the deadly second wave of the pandemic. They have understood the threat of the Covid-19 both physically and mentally.
“Gathering should be avoided as much as possible, if one person is infected with the Coronavirus, the whole society gets involved, no one is safe until everybody is safe,” he said.
Irfan said that the priority based vaccination held by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) is an excellent step where shopkeepers, vendors, barbers etc are getting vaccinated. These are the people with whom the general public comes in contact on a daily basis.
Meanwhile the chemists from the countryside opine that the people in rural areas are less informative about the virus as compared to the masses of urban areas.
One of the chemists from central Kashmir’s Budgam district Ashraf Bhat said that the literacy rate of the people in the region is less as compared to the people of urban areas.
Ashraf, a pharmacist who runs two medical shops in two different areas of the region including Chadoora and Srinagar areas said that he witnesses two different behaviors among the people.
“At the Srinagar outlet, people on daily bases buy masks and hand sanitizers and other safety items while in Budgam people still lack awareness about the Covid-19,” he said.
He, however, said that at Budgam shop he has procured ten hand sanitizers that are yet to be sold even after passing more than a month.
“Even very few people wear masks in this area. There is no hike in purchasing masks and hand sanitizers in this area of the region,” Ashraf said.
He said that social media plays a vital role in disseminating information about Covid-19. “People use different social media platforms to get themselves aware of the day to day situation. However, not every person can have access to such advantages,” Ashraf added.
