By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, May 7: The Tibetan government-in-exile based in Dharamshala has called for a seven-day lockdown in all Tibetan settlements across India from 10 to 16 May. As India records daily record of over 4 lakh cases, the President of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), Dr. Lobsang Sangay on Thursday appealed to the public to take rigorous precaution, “What we need now is collective and coordinated effort to break the chain no matter what and buy time till vaccines are available for all.”
Experts have drawn attention to the potential third-wave that could devastate the already dwindling Indian healthcare system. “Realistically, it will take at least two years to inoculate 60 percent of India’s population. The coming weeks, months are very, very crucial,” the CTA President further said. The Tibetan administration headquarters on Thursday has recorded 60 cases, among a total of 164 Tibetan cases in Dharamshala, which is also the residence of exiled leader Dalai Lama.
Dr. Sangay also issued an urgent appeal to the settlement offices to begin efforts for the procurement of vaccines for all adults under their jurisdictions. He further said that the Indian inoculation drive for 18-45 ages continues to be scarce, given the slow vaccine rollout. The Cabinet has allocated an additional budget of 100 lakh rupees to be used for Covid-19 management and relief in the settlements across India.
As of Thursday, the Tibetan community has recorded over 484 new Covid-19 cases and 8 deaths over the past week, taking the total tally of coronavirus infections to 2,934 cases and death toll to 61. According to CTA, there are 1,069 active positive cases. As of Friday, India recorded 4.14 lakh new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s total caseload to over 2.14 crore.
One Response
What can be achieved in one week? It’s a casual lockdown. Something is better than nothing won’t apply in case of lockdown. To break chain of transmission at least 14 days lockdown is required as per science because that’s how much time it takes for a COVID patient to become non-infectious. Vaccine coverage will not be significant in a week. CTA is not planning to ramp up healthcare facilities in a week. So I don’t get it.