The district administration and police machinery, which have been striving relentlessly for eradication of COVID-19 from the district, has now launched a fresh campaign to educate people to maintain social distancing.
Incidentally, even before the government announced ‘Janata curfew’ on March 22 and subsequently lockdown for 21 days, the administration was put on high alert to check the spread of COVID-19. The district was the first to open an isolation ward at the district headquarters hospital and ensured isolation wards at two private medical colleges in the town.
The authorities had first noticed the suspected movement of 10 Indonesians and sent them to isolation ward and later to Gandhi Hospital, where the doctors confirmed that all the 10 foreign preachers were virus-positive on March 17. Later, the police started identifying the persons who moved closely with the Indonesian preachers and sent them to isolation ward.
After one local person, who moved closely with Indonesians, tested positive, the authorities immediately cordoned off the areas falling under three municipal divisions in the town and intensified sanitisation programmes and conducted door-to-door survey. The medical teams also toured the areas and identified suspected persons and shifted them to isolation or put them under home quarantine.
Recently, three more persons who returned from ‘markaz’ prayers in Nizamuddin also tested positive and they were shifted to Gandhi Hospital. The police had identified all the persons, who moved closely with the Nizamuddin returnees and sent them to isolation wards.
Now in order to prevent the spread of the virus, the authorities have launched a special campaign educating people to maintain social distancing. Accordingly, the MCK authorities erected signboards, posters and wall-writings urging people to maintain social distancing at all crowded places such as markets, malls, etc.
The Commissionerate of Police have gone a step ahead and appointed around 160 volunteers and deployed them at shopping malls, vegetable markets, medical shops etc to ensure that the people follow social distancing to check the spread of the virus.
“We are taking all measures to control the spread of the virus and fight against COVID-19 is not over. Already, more than 200 persons had been sent to isolation wards and several others were home quarantined. Now, we are educating the people to follow social distancing and wear masks to check the spread of virus and break its chain,” the official sources said.
