The changes in Covid-19 protocols wrought by the government from time to time cause worry to sections of the general population as the authorities often do not fully explain why the changes have been made.
One such case relates to the disposal of dead bodies of people confirmed to have had Covid-19.
Last week, Health Minister Prestone Tynsong and Commissioner and Secretary Sampath Kumar sought to assure the public that dead bodies do not pass on the coronavirus to the living. They said this in response to instances where certain Dorbar Shnongs have refused families the right to bring the dead to their homes prior to burial or cremation, while there have also been instances of people who are ill with Covid not willing to go to hospital for fear that their remains will not be handled in a dignified way if they die of the disease there.
Tynsong, however, pointed to the state government’s most recent Covid protocols on disposing of dead bodies, which were issued on May 4. These allow for the deceased to be brought home from hospital prior to burial or cremation once cleaned and sealed in a plastic covering. However, the body is not to be taken inside the house but kept within the compound; if there is insufficient space for this, then the body must be cremated/buried immediately. Families are also permitted to view the face of the deceased prior to disposal; for this the plastic covering may be unzipped to allow for better viewing of the dead but, on no account should the body be touched, hugged, etc.
Such protocols differ markedly from those adopted when the pandemic hit Meghalaya in April last year. In time scientists’ understanding of the disease and how it spreads has increased and that has driven changes to rules, standard operating procedures and protocols the world over.
However, a few Meghalayans spoken to are not convinced, especially since they feel that the authorities announce these changes glibly and do not take steps to enlighten the public as to how they have reached these new conclusions, some of which are the opposite to what they had been preaching for.
“Covid-19 protocols have reduced us to being a captive audience for the government, who throw up so-called protocols one after the other, sometimes contradicting each other,” said a person whose relative had been buried straight from hospital without even a chance for family to stand next to the coffin. He added that it is because of such diktat-like announcements with little reference to facts by the government that cause problems for the public.
Another person pointed out that there have been other instances where the government has overturned its own protocols. One of them was in allowing the political class and higher bureaucrats to bypass Covid-19 tests at entry points to the state and the need to undergo home quarantine as if they were immune to the virus only for this to change when Meghalaya underwent its rapid rise in infections in May.
Other protocols are questionable given that the high and mighty never seems to adhere to them. In this, another member of the public remembered that Union Home Minister Amit Shah never seemed to wear a facemask on his recent trip to Meghalaya. Recently, a pressure group officially complained that a BJP meeting in Laban was attended by more than the 20 people permitted by the authorities.
Many also questioned the fairness of rules that mandate people to stay indoors while allowing road construction and international cross-border truck movement to continue but still suppressing local daily wage earners and vendors.
