A day after Mysuru crossed a major milestone, becoming free from COVID-19 for the present after a two-month combat against the contagion, the district, which was placed in the ‘red zone’, is all set to be reclassified with the Centre framing new parameters for the COVID-19 zones. The State government was awaiting the Centre’s directive in this regard since the number of active cases here has become ‘zero’ from 90.
Mysuru’s entry into “green zone” is on the cards and the model it adopted in handling the pandemic has come in for praise. And the ‘Coronavirus warriors’ led by Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Sankar were on Saturday felicitated for their efforts.
The Deputy Commissioner said “A battle is won but the war is just starting. Let’s keep working like this till we win the war in Mysuru. I thank all the officers, elected representatives, staff, media and all the NGOs for their untiring commitment and steadfast dedication which helped Mysuru reach the stage it is in today. Also, the credit goes to the people of Mysuru for their cooperation and understanding.”
However, the challenge or the fight against the pandemic is not over yet as the health authorities are gearing up for the testing of those who returned from various States and had been kept in institutional quarantine. The testing was expected to start from May 18 after they enter the 12th day of their quarantine.
The results would be faster with the testing capacity boosted with the addition of new PCR machines.
“The results on the samples drawn after 12th day of quarantine had been found to be accurate and accordingly the tests had been planned,” said Mr. Sankar.
Meanwhile, random sampling was being carried out across the district and the samples collected so far had tested negative. “Samples drawn from the staff at the PHCs, CHCs and other healthcare professionals, policemen and other field staff have tested negative. This showed there was no community spread of the disease,” the Deputy Commissioner said.
Mr. Sankar said the samples of pregnant women, and ‘SARI’ and ‘ILI’ cases had been tested. Barring two SARI cases out of 530, all tested negative. The testing of 600-plus inter-State travellers was expected to start soon. All of them are in institutional quarantine, he added.
On the migrant workers from Bihar awaiting clearances, he said 2,300 workers from Bihar had registered for returning to their home State.
“We are planning a phased exit of these workers. Some of those who had registered and got clearances had managed to arrange their own transport to their respective States. Only those workers whose States are far-off are awaiting special trains for their journey. We are expecting a special train to run to Bihar from Mysuru next week. About 11,000-plus migrant workers had registered in Mysuru district for their return,” he said.
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