COVID-19 Is Like Forest Fires, Let’s Prevent It From Becoming An Epidemic, Says Bagchi

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government’s chief spokesperson on Coronavirus management Subroto Bagchi is mincing no words while warning people about lies ahead on the coronavirus front. In his daily briefing, he justified steps taken by the state government like the lockdown in nine more districts, taking the total to 14.

He said that we should not underestimate the scourge of coronavirus. Comparing  it with that of fires in yesteryear Indian villages and forest fires which left nothing behind, he said:

“We earlier used to have rows of thatched houses in our villages. In summer, a single spark could engulf the entire village in minutes leaving nothing behind before one could realize. Similarly, in summer an entire forest used to go ablaze with a little fire in the dry grass and it could not be controlled before it destroyed everything. This epidemic corona is spreading something like the village fire,” explained Bagchi.

He pointed out that it won’t take much time to reach 2,000 from just two.

“That is why your government is going to make lockdown more stringent. Yesterday you had observed ‘Janata Curfew’, today it is a lockdown. People are thinking that it is something like a bandh call given by a political party wherein in the morning a few tyres were set on fire and towards afternoon life used to be normal with people using their vehicles. This lockdown is not like that .Corona is waiting on the roads everywhere to get us; it’s hunting for us,” the chief spokesperson elaborated. 

He pointed out that lockdown has to be taken with all seriousness.

“Life will be disrupted for sure. This is a big blow for the entire mankind to face and to save our children, we have to accept that life will be affected and the government will be taking all steps to resolve it,” Bagchi clarified.

He said that the control room set up by the state government that is working 24×7 is of the highest standards and under the Chief Minister’s order the situation is being reviewed continuously and measures as deemed necessary will be taken.

The state government on Monday extended the lockdown to nine more districts-Puri, Nayagarh, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, Dhenkanal, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda. Apart from this, Rourkela Steel Township will be under lockdown from Tuesday morning.