With the Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad declaring the area around Mullana Oni in Hubballi where the second COVID-19 positive person in the district was residing, the Hubballi Dharwad Municipal Corporation has begun work to sanitise the entire area. Steps have also been taken to begin a health survey in the designated area.
On Friday, pourakarmikas and trained staff were engaged in sanitising the locality with the spraying of disinfectant sodium hypochlorite in various localities in the Containment Zone. Already, the police have barricaded the roads in the zone to prevent movement of people and vehicles. The entry and exit points of these localities have been sealed and all the shops asked to close. Residents have been requested to remain in their houses.
In Dharwad, Deputy Commissioner M. Deepa held a meeting with office-bearers of Anjuman-e-Islam and religious heads from various localities of the containment areas to educate them about the steps being taken in the fight against the pandemic.
Ms. Deepa said that after declaration of the Containment Zone, now there would door-to-door survey by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and anganwadi workers would be conducted from Saturday and requested the leaders to sensitise the residents to cooperate with the workers by providing the requisite information. The workers would collect details regarding the health of the members of the families residing in the containment zone and also their travel history.
She told them that the information collection was basically to protect the residents from the pandemic and asked them to sensitise the people to provide information regarding their travel and health without hiding anything. Concurring with her, Police Commissioner R. Dileep asked them not to distribute foodgrains or packed food without informing the administration and not to send youths outside unnecessarily.
Municipal Commissioner Suresh Itnal said that 14 wards that fall under a one-kilometre radius of Mullana Oni had been contained now and the restrictions would be implemented strictly.
Not from Nizamuddin
Meanwhile, speaking to presspersons earlier, Ms. Deepa clarified that the person who had tested positive was in nowhere connected to the Tablighi Jamaat. It was reported in a section of the media that he was related to the Delhi congregation. He is a businessman who had travelled to various places, including Hyderabad and Delhi, before returning to Hubballi, she said and added that already, several of those who had come into contact with the businessman, including his family members, had been quarantined. “We are collecting information on his daily activities after he returned to Hubballi and all those who have come in contact with him will be tested,” she said.
