As a check against the community spread of COVID-19 in future, Odisha’s Ganjam district administration has commenced efforts to strengthen the morale of thousands of quarantined returnees, preparing them to live with precautions when they return to their families. The local administration is trying to alleviate the mental stress and depression of returned migrant workers, the worst victims of COVID-19 pandemic.
‘Not in jails’
“We are taking all efforts to make sure the quarantined persons don’t feel that they are in jails [in the institutional quarantine centres], but rather it is a place of learning, to improve their own lives and that of their families,” said Ganjam District Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange.
The efforts include sessions of laughter therapy, spiritual discourses and prayers, listening to patriotic songs, and the decorative lighting of lamps to inspire hope. Story-telling sessions from the Ramayan, Mahabharat and Srimad Bhagavatam are also being organised as migrant workers hailing from rural areas enjoy mythology. Local peer leaders and experts are engaged in leading these activities at the quarantine centres. Physical exercise, yoga and community service are also included among the activities.
After 21 days in institutional quarantine, the returnees will have to spend seven more days in home quarantine.
Without fear
The key message conveyed to the workers is that COVID-19 is a reality that has to be accepted without fear by taking precautions to protect themselves and their families from it.
Return of thousands of migrant workers to Ganjam increases fears of contagion
The Ganjam administration is also encouraging citizens to accept “self containment” as the best weapon against the community spread of COVID-19. It involves simple measures like the use of masks and gloves, social distancing, and the frequent washing of hands with soap. “But this is not possible unless people accept it as a necessity instead of considering it a diktat of the authorities,” said DC Kulange.
To set an example, Mr. Kulange and other senior officials of the district, who travel to COVID-19 infection-prone areas every day, have started adhering to “self containment” in their own homes to protect their family members.
ASHA and aanganwadi workers are receiving training to popularise “self-containment” through out the district.
Major hotspot
Ganjam is the major hotspot for COVID-19 in Odisha, with 307 positive cases till Monday afternoon. The majority of persons who have tested positive are migrant workers who have returned from Surat and are now in institutional quarantine centres.
Coronavirus | Odisha trains quarantined migrants as community health workers
So far, over 50,000 migrant workers have returned to Ganjam. Over 3,000 temporary medical centres (TMCs) at the gram panchayat level have been turned into quarantine centres.
