Slowly, but surely, the involvement of community elders and others has been making the job easy for officials who are dealing with persons in quarantine centres located at Narayana College in Pati and Maheswara Medical College in Patancheru mandal and MNR Medical College at Fasalwadi.
While 17 persons were kept at MNR Medical College, eight persons were at Maheswara Medical College and about 75 persons at Narayana College at Pati.
All of them are first and second contacts of those who had participated in religious congregation in New Delhi. Though initially it had become a Herculean task for police, medical and revenue personnel to identify them and bring them to quarantine, the contacts are understanding the seriousness of the pandemic after counselling by doctors and officials.
“Initially, many from the minority community felt that they were being targeted as they had attended the meeting. But when the results were coming positive for those who attended the religious congregation, they started to realise the truth. Now they are understanding that not only they and their families but also their community are at risk. Many of them have understood this and are cooperating with us,” said an official involved in the activities at a quarantine centre. At the help desk also, the officials posted an employee from the same community so that it would be easy to deal with them.
They also roped in personnel who could speak the same language with those in quarantine, which narrowed the gap between the administration and those in the centre.
“Even at places where some persons were kept in house quarantine, neighbours from the same community are coming forward to share information and their movements. At times they are calling us to enforce the restrictions strictly,” the official said.
The repeated appeals by Finance Minister T Harish Rao to follow the lockdown norms did also have their impact.
