C'garh: Pandemic under control, but govt keeping wary eye

Twenty-one out of 28 districts in

Chhattisgarh are still free of coronavirus, even though many of them share borders with regions affected by the pandemic.

The state can also take comfort in the fact that of the 59 coronavirus patients detected so far, 55 have been discharged following recovery, and no new case has been reported in the last nine days. There has been no death due to COVID-19 in the state so far.

But the government believes that a major challenge lies ahead, as a large number of migrants are returning home from states which are coronavirus hotspots.

"A proactive approach has helped us control the pandemic. Timely detection of positive cases and identification of possible infection carriers were key to the success so far," Health Minister T S Singh Deo told PTI.

 

Initially the challenge was to contain spread of virus from those returning from abroad, he said.

"In early March we started medical screening at the airport of those coming from foreign countries, particularly affected countries," he said.

The next challenge was people entering Chhattisgarh from neighbouring states despite lockdown. It was followed by some people related to Tablighi Jamaat -- whose congregation in Delhi had turned out be virus hotsot -- testing positive for infection in Katghora town of Korba district, he said.

But the health department tackled the situation in coordination with other departments, and community leaders and public representatives also contributed by informing local authorities about people coming from other states or abroad in their area, the minister added.

"However, the latest challenge before us is of migrants who are returning home by trains and other means. There are cent percent chances that many of them will test positive, so we have taken all precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the infection," Singh Deo said.

District administrationshave made arrangements to quarantine people arriving from other states. School buildings, community halls, hostels, ashrams are being used as quarantine facilities, the minister said.

"16,013 quarantine centres have been set up where 42,350 migrants had been put up as of Wednesday," he said.

Asymptomatic carriers can transmit the disease to others, and effective testing was key to prevent such spread, the health minister said.

As per official data, 1.25 lakh migrants are expected to return to Chhattisgarh, but the figure may go up to 3.5 lakh, he said.

"The first coronavirus case in Chhattisgarh was reported on March 18. Then samples were being tested only at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Raipur. Later we set up three more labs at medical colleges in Raipur, Jagdalpur and Raigarh," Singh Deo said.

"The process of setting up testing facilities at Ambikapur, Bilaspur and Rajnandgaon medical colleges is underway, and it will be done soon," he said.

The health department also procured 75,000 rapid testing kits from a South Korean company and has started using them all over the state, he said.

The Chhattisgarh government imposed prohibitory orders in the state on March 22, before the national lockdown, an official pointed out.

"We were in action mode since January-February and trying to arrange necessary logistics to deal with the pandemic. In early March, a State Command and Control Centre was set up to monitor COVID-19 situation," he said.

Rapid Response Teams were activated at state level, division level and district level for preparations, he added.

In rural areas, people themselves enforced lockdown by barricading entry points into villages by felling trees and banning entry of outsiders.

The maximum number of coronavirus cases -- 28 -- have been reported in Korba district, most of them in Katghora town.

A member of Tablighi Jamaat who had arrived in the town from Maharashtra tested positive and later 26 people in the area were found to have contracted the infection.

However, all the patients in Korba district recovered and there has been no fresh case since April 16.

The government has decided to provide free foodgrains for April, May and June to 56.48 lakh Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. Some 23 lakh people are employed in MGNREGA works in 9,883 village panchayats, he informed.