[<<The state administration began by setting up a team as early as January 21, before the first case was reported in India. Screening began at Raipur airport on January 28. By March 1, the state government had begun tracing those with a history of foreign travel. A total of 76,000 people were identified and home-quarantined. By the time the first case was detected on March 20—a 24-year-old woman who had travelled overseas—the government was prepared. The broad strategy was to follow the Korean model of 3Ts: Trace, Test and Treat. It also decided that its mandatory quarantine period would be longer than the standard, extending it from 14 days to 28 days.
Making People Stay Put: On March 29, when the Union government made it clear that free movement of the population would not be allowed, the state government was ready with a plan. Borders were sealed, with even inter-district boundaries closed. It was decided that all those in transit, be they labourers or students, would need to remain where they were. However, the government did not leave the people to fend for themselves. It says that total of 446 relief camps have been set up, with an additional 36 established by NGOs, in which around 10,500 people have been housed. They will continue to live in these camps until the lockdown is lifted. In the initial days, there was resistance from the workers being restricted to these camps. Most said that they wanted to go home to their respective states or districts within Chhattisgarh. The state government, however, felt that allowing people to travel would risk spreading the virus. A large number of schools and colleges have been taken over by district administrations to house these people. At some places, WiFi facilities are being provided and television sets have also been installed. Food is being organised by district administrations through their own budgets or through donations. Doctors visit these camps regularly to check for early signs of the disease. In certain places, the owners of the industries at which these workers were employed have been made responsible for their food and stay. A total of 31,000 workers are being taken care of by their employers. Chhattisgarh has also been ahead of the curve compared to other states in matters of testing—it was one of the first states to deploy rapid anti-body testing. These tests helped Chhattisgarh identify ‘patient zero’, or the source of the virus, in Katghora—the state’s only hotspot, which had 25 cases in mid-April. A 22-year-old man who had visited the Nizamuddin markaz had come out negative when tested through the PCR route. The first patient in Katghora, a 16-year-old youth, had mentioned him as a contact. While the PCR test found the contact negative, the rapid anti-body test found him to have been a former carrier of the virus.>>] https://www.indiatoday.in/india-today-insight/story/chhattisgarh-s-corona-control-1671801-2020-04-27 Chhattisgarh’s Corona control | India Today Insight The state shows the way with a low COVID-19 count and perhaps the best recovery rate in India ADVERTISEMENT Rahul Noronha Bhopal April 27, 2020UPDATED: April 27, 2020 23:15 IST Chhattisgarh health Minister T.S. Singh Deo during an inspection at Ambedkar Hospital in Raipur on April 11. (Photo by Bhupesh Kesharwani) As COVID-19 cases continue to pile up across the country, Chhattisgarh has emerged as one of the big states to have done well, at least till now, in checking the spread of the disease. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as of April 27, Chhattisgarh had a total of 37 cases, of which 32 had recovered. The remaining 5 are in hospital and are showing signs of recovery. With no deaths, perhaps the best rate of recovery in the country (over 86 per cent), and with 23 of the state’s 28 districts unaffected, Chhattisgarh has emerged as the state with the largest area without COVID-19 cases as a percentage of the total area of the state. In this context, a look at the practices that the state administration has followed would not be out of place. Timely Intervention: As neighbouring Madhya Pradesh was grappling with political uncertainty in mid-March, putting at risk the plans necessary to deal with the pandemic, Chhattisgarh, which often looks towards its parent state for inspiration, thankfully charted its own path. The state administration began by setting up a team as early as January 21, before the first case was reported in India. Screening began at Raipur airport on January 28. By March 1, the state government had begun tracing those with a history of foreign travel. A total of 76,000 people were identified and home-quarantined. By the time the first case was detected on March 20—a 24-year-old woman who had travelled overseas—the government was prepared. The broad strategy was to follow the Korean model of 3Ts: Trace, Test and Treat. It also decided that its mandatory quarantine period would be longer than the standard, extending it from 14 days to 28 days. Making People Stay Put: On March 29, when the Union government made it clear that free movement of the population would not be allowed, the state government was ready with a plan. Borders were sealed, with even inter-district boundaries closed. It was decided that all those in transit, be they labourers or students, would need to remain where they were. However, the government did not leave the people to fend for themselves. It says that total of 446 relief camps have been set up, with an additional 36 established by NGOs, in which around 10,500 people have been housed. They will continue to live in these camps until the lockdown is lifted. In the initial days, there was resistance from the workers being restricted to these camps. Most said that they wanted to go home to their respective states or districts within Chhattisgarh. The state government, however, felt that allowing people to travel would risk spreading the virus. A large number of schools and colleges have been taken over by district administrations to house these people. At some places, WiFi facilities are being provided and television sets have also been installed. Food is being organised by district administrations through their own budgets or through donations. Doctors visit these camps regularly to check for early signs of the disease. In certain places, the owners of the industries at which these workers were employed have been made responsible for their food and stay. A total of 31,000 workers are being taken care of by their employers. Chhattisgarh has also been ahead of the curve compared to other states in matters of testing—it was one of the first states to deploy rapid anti-body testing. These tests helped Chhattisgarh identify ‘patient zero’, or the source of the virus, in Katghora—the state’s only hotspot, which had 25 cases in mid-April. A 22-year-old man who had visited the Nizamuddin markaz had come out negative when tested through the PCR route. The first patient in Katghora, a 16-year-old youth, had mentioned him as a contact. While the PCR test found the contact negative, the rapid anti-body test found him to have been a former carrier of the virus. “We were lucky we didn’t have many from Chhattisgarh travelling overseas” Chhattisgarh Minister for panchayats, rural development and health, T.S. Singhdeo has been at the forefront of the state’s strategy in tackling the virus. He spoke to India Today on issues such as testing, or the lack of it, procurement and role of the state in the health sector. Q. If there is one thing that has enabled Chhattisgarh to keep COVID-19 numbers in check, what would that be? A. We are fortunate to have a good team in the health department, and outside as well, which did not get bogged down by conservatism in decision-making. Also, we were lucky that as a state, our population does not have many people travelling overseas and becoming carriers of the virus. This has helped especially in tribal areas—the population there can get infected only through contact with people from urban areas. We had identified a total of 4,000 travellers, of which were able to test 2,800. Q. Are you satisfied with the rate of testing in Chhattisgarh? A. Far from it. We are, in some senses, inspired by the South Korea model, where testing rates stand at 7,000 per million. In Chhattisgarh, as of today, we are at 344.6 tests per million. Unfortunately adequate options for testing were not available in the country. From one institute for testing, the Pune based NIV (National Institute of Virology), we now have 220 institutes that are testing—but it is still not enough. Q. Chhattisgarh has ordered rapid anti-body test kits, but the Centre has asked all states to keep their use on hold. What is your view on rapid anti-body tests? A. I look at it this way. If you are in a dark room, and you are searching for something and need light, any source of illumination can be of some help. In that sense, rapid anti-body tests can give some illumination. They are better than the thermal scanning we are doing for fever. It is not a confirmatory test, and is being used only for surveillance. Q. What is the process of buying PCR kits or rapid test kits? Are you satisfied with the process? There have been complaints about kits malfunctioning and quality issues... A. We follow the store-purchase rules for procurement. Tendering is a prolonged process and we secured a clearance from the government to go in for short-term tenders in view of the pandemic. The period in the tender was reduced to two days and the first bid had to be called off. In the second bid we got a person to supply us anti-body test kits from a South Korean company, but manufactured in India. We identified some people who were creating mischief in the tendering process, even during such a crucial period, and have blacklisted them. Q. What is your view on the lives versus livelihoods debate? What is more important—jaan or jahaan? A. The first choice will always be life. Having said that, I will add that one cannot imagine everyone sitting at home ad infinitum. When the lockdown is lifted—and it will be lifted—people should be prepared for changes in the way they lead their lives. Masks, frequent hand-washing and social distancing will be a reality of life, at least until a cure is found. I see the lockdown period as an opportunity to train people for life in the post-corona world. Once the lockdown is lifted, there may be a spike in cases, but this period of training will help citizens. I, for one, never spent ‘at least 20 seconds’ washing my hands, but do it now. People will have to adapt to the new reality. Lifting the lockdown won’t mean that the virus is gone. Q. How do you see things panning out in the next six months on the economic front? A. Economic activity in Chhattisgarh includes agriculture and allied sectors, manufacturing and services. Agriculture has not been restricted at all, and the population that depends on it has not been adversely impacted by the lockdown as much as others. The service sector has people whose livelihoods were impacted and those whose livelihoods weren’t. Similarly in manufacturing too, a part involving the Bhilai steel plant, power sector etc continued to manufacture but there is also a part that was shut down. The most important aspect is to look at how demand can be generated, because unless there is demand, economic activity will be adversely affected. Q. Any specific wish list that you have from the Centre? A. I have a demand not only from the Centre but from all states and governments in other countries as well: spending on the health sector should not be less than 3 per cent of the GDP. The coronavirus is a wake-up call for everyone. This will not be the last pandemic to hit the world. The lesson from this situation is that the public health sector is crucial in rising to the challenge presented by pandemics. If governments do not understand this even now, there is no hope. Chhattisgarh too had allocated only about 1.5 percent of the GSDP to health—I hope it goes up in the next budget. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/greenyouth/CACEsOZiPzReVUGaHGzYcLt8%3DoGWs7GtnksE5AJfCnQraR7C6KA%40mail.gmail.com.
