MERI Mirror, April' 2020
A bilingual monthly student publication, an initiative of the students of Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at MERI College, affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi.
A bilingual monthly student publication, an initiative of the students of Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at MERI College, affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi.
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e‘Bhilwaramodel’
-ByAnjaliTanwar
Withthe21-daylockdownannouncedby
PrimeMinisterNarendraModinow inits
finalweek,the governments at the
centreandthestatesaredebatingwhat
shouldbethepathahead.From zeropositiveCovid-19casesto26patientsinBhilwara,aRajasthandistrict,seemedonthe
aim ofalarge-scaleoutbreakofthenovel
coronavirus.Inthelasteightdays,betweenMarch30andApril6,theamount
ofnovelcoronaviruscasesinBhilwara
hasrisenbyjustone.Andoftheentire27
positivenovelcoronaviruscasesdetectedinBhilwara,17arecured.Outofthe17,
13havebeendischarged.ThecontainmentstrategywasfoundtoachievesuccessinBhilwara.Firstthebordersofthe
town,thenthebordersofthewholedistrictweresealed.On
March 20,since
April2,thedistrictisunderavirtual
curfew andistotalysealed.Alshops,
evenmedicalanddairystores,areshut.
Ifpeopleneedanything,dedicated,the
teamsdeliveressentialgoodstotheir
doorsteps.Alprivatevehiclesarebarred
from moving.Some2,000teamsofdoctorsandotheroficialsadministereda
realycomprehensivedoor-to-doorcam
paign,screeningthewholepopulationof
28 lakh people within the district.
Anyone showing influenza-like symptomswasputunderimmediatehome
quarantine.A24-hourroom wasfound,
whichhadstatepolice,rapidresponse
team andmembersoftheWHO.Screen
ingwasprioritisedforhospitalstafwho
initialytestedpositiveandstafofother
hospitalsaswels.Some27hotelsbecame
quarantinewards.Otherhostelsandinstitutionswereropedin
orderthatquite
11,600bedsweremadeavailableforisolatingpeople.High-riskplacesandvehicleslikepolicelines,ambulancesand
publicoficeswereregularlydisinfected.
Thebiggestchalengethattheadministrationfacedwascontainingtherising
numberofcasesaftertheinitialoutbreak.Doctorsoftheprivatehospital
whoweretestedpositiveforthevirus,
hadcontactwithnumerouspeoplei
cludingthestafandpatientswhovisited
theprivatehospitalsduringthesame
time.Someofthesepatientshadcome
from otherstatesandafterthe caseof
COVID-19wasdetectedwithinthedistrict,severalothercases,mostlywho
cam incontactwiththedoctorsandthe
infected hospitalstafwere reported
witheachpassingday.Theoutbreakin
Bhilwaracameasasuddenshocktothe
administrationandithadbeenaserious
chalengetohidequite22lakhhouses
withinamaterofdays.Oncethesurvey
ofaneighborhoodwascompleted,the
healthteamsvisitedtheplaceoncemore
afteracoupleofdaystosee,iftherewas
anyfreshdevelopment.Owingtothefact
thatBhilwara,athrivingtextilecitywith
anestimatedpopulationof30lakh,it
wasalsoadificulttaskforthegovernmenttostrictlyimposethecurfew
uni
formlyinaltogetherareas.
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