Assam COVID cases 7,165, Active 2,338, Discharged 4,814, Death 10

SOCIAL DISTANCING GOES FOR A TOSS

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Health experts have expressed the fear of massive community transmission of coronavirus in the State's capital city as the social distancing norm went for a toss in the name of buying essential commodities ahead of the 14-days lockdown starting from Monday.

The city has been witnessing panic buying of groceries, vegetable, fish and meat items soon after Dispur on Friday announced of clamping the toughest-ever lockdown in Kamrup (Metropolitan) district to put a spanner on the alarming rise in the number of COVID-19 positive cases.

"But the worst has already taken place during the last two days (Friday and Saturday). Going by the ways the people are gathering at grocery shops, shopping malls and other market places to purchase essential commodities and other items ahead of Monday, I fear that the virus has already been transmitted to many people," a doctor at Gauhati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH) said.

Another senior doctor at GMCH said that community transmission happens when a person, who is not exposed to anyone known to be infected and has not travelled to countries affected by the virus, tests positive for infection. He said altogether 880 COVID-19 positive cases without any travel history have already been detected in the city.

"There might be many such undetected and asymptomatic cases (COVID positive without any travel history) in the city. If such people have intermingled with the people shopping during the last two days, they must have transmitted the virus to thousands of other people," the doctor pointed out.

Long queues sans social distancing were seen in front of grocery shops, vegetable vendors, fish and meat shops across the city on Saturday. The situation had come to such a pass that the owners of some grocery shops had to close their shutters after their stocks suddenly exhausted due to panic buying.

Taking advantage of the situation, a section of vendors have exorbitantly hiked the prices of vegetable items like cabbages, tomatoes, beans, ladies finger, and capcicum were selling in between Rs 100 to Rs 130 per kg on Saturday. On normal days, the selling prices of these items range between Rs 40 to Rs 60.

"The people have literally gone berserk to purchase essential items. Even though the lockdown will continue for two weeks, some people are purchasing items as if they would store them for a month or two. I had to close my shutter on Saturday afternoon apprehending untoward incidents as some customers were desperate to purchase the entire stock of commodities from my shop," a grocery shop owner at Ulubari said.

Despite the announcement of lockdown by Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday, the Kamrup (Metropolitan) district administration was simply caught off guard as it failed to manage the crowd and maintain social distance at markets and shops. The city is expected to witness chaos in markets on Sunday too. Will the administration do something or keep looking the other way?

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