‘Ghosts’ patrol in Indonesia to keep locals indoors

Kepuh village in Indonesia has been haunted by ghosts of late, as mysterious white figures jump out at unsuspecting passersby.

The village on Java island has deployed a cast of “ghosts” to patrol the streets, hoping that age-old superstition will keep people indoors and safely away from the coronavirus.

“We wanted to be different and create a deterrent effect because ‘pocong’ are spooky and scary,” said AnjarPancaningtyas, head of a village youth group that coordinated with the police on the unconventional initiative to promote social distancing as the coronavirus spreads.

Known as “pocong”, these creatures represent the trapped souls of the dead in Indonesian folklore. The ghostly figures are typically wrapped in white shrouds with powdered faces and kohl-rimmed eyes.

President Joko Widodo has resisted a national lockdown to curb the coronavirus, instead urging people to practise social distancing and good hygiene.

Nagaland records first COVID-19 case

Nagaland recorded its first case of Covid-19 with a patient admitted in Assam’s Guwahati testing positive for the coronavirus on Sunday.

Informing about the same, Assam health minister HimantaBiswaSarma, tweeted, “A private hospital in Dimapur, Nagaland referred a patient to Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) after he was found with symptoms of Covid-19. He has tested positive and is undergoing treatment.”

According to health officials in Assam, the patient is a resident of Dimapur and was referred directly from Nagaland. He was first admitted in a private hospital in Dimapur and when he showed symptoms for Covid-19 he was sent to GMCH.

“Unfortunately, one person from Dimapur has tested positive for Covid-19 and is under treatment at GMCH at Guwahati. Anyone who came in contact with the person will be immediately quarantined, also certain locations will be sealed for general safety,”Nagaland’s health minister S PangnyuPhom tweeted.

Meghalaya now remains the only state in the northeast which is yet to record any Covid-19 positive case.

Kerala on its way to win battle against Corona

Of all of India’s states, Kerala is on its way to win the fight against the novel coronavirus. As things stand, there’s a clear indication of a flattening of the infection curve in the state.

The number of fresh cases has fallen to the least in the country and the number of cured patients is escalating every day.

Efforts that paid off well for the state include aggressive testing, intense contact tracing, instituting a longer quarantine, building thousands of shelters for migrant workers stranded by the sudden nationwide shutdown and distributing millions of cooked meals to those in need.

On Sunday, only two fresh Covid-19 cases were reported form the state, the least number in the past few weeks. On the same day, 36 patients recovered and emerged from quarantine.

The state of 35 million people is already being touted internationally as a model for fighting Covid-19.