Are women unwilling to disclose COVID-19-like symptoms and reach out for treatment?
The ongoing door-to-door survey in Mysuru for identifying people with COVID-19 symptoms for providing early treatment in an effort to mitigate last-minute complications and hospitalisation, has disclosed the fact that many women, in view of their domestic obligations, ignore their health.
“The women are not sent to the COVID-19 Care Centres since there won’t be anyone to deal with household work in their absence. They do not get the rest or nutrition required,” said Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri, responding to the outcome of the survey being carried out by the ASHAs and healthcare volunteers in the city and taluks.
Therefore, the district administration has taken women as a focus group in the survey, which has found that women were neglecting their health and not reporting their symptoms besides unwilling to leave their homes to CCCs for treatment and rest.
Consequently, it has asked the Mysuru City Corporation to open CCCs like in the taluks (18 CCCs had been established in government buildings such as hostels and residential schools).
Plans are afoot to effectively isolate and monitor as many as 5,625 cases in home isolation in Mysuru city. Separate CCCs for women are also being planned for their proper care.
The MCC has been asked to identify constituency-wise and ward-wise CCCs and take volunteer help in this respect. These CCCs will be tagged to PHCs and medical care will be provided, the Deputy Commissioner said.
Mysuru city has 8,865 active cases and the taluks have 6,855 active cases. All of them will be monitored ward-wise, panchayat-wise on a daily basis and the same will be shared for collective monitoring.
Urban-rural contrast
As many as 343 villages in Mysuru district have remained free from COVID-19 in this wave. Not a single case of COVID-19 has been reported by them. On the other hand, all the wards in the city have cases and a few have cases in very alarming numbers. “Our focus is on these wards and also on the GPs where there are cases in high numbers. DB Kuppe in H.D. Kote taluk stands out as the panchayat with no cases.”
‘COVID-19 Mukta Mysuru’
Ms. Sindhuri said the July 1 ‘COVID-19 Mukta Mysuru’ campaign will showcase the COVID-19 heroes of Mysuru, who, against all odds, are fighting the pandemic. They include village-level workers, GP members, ASHAs, anganwadi workers, corporators, volunteers, industrial workers and the public.
