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At Palwal war room, it is round-the-clock alert
Palwal: Telephones were constantly buzzing on each of the four tables placed a metre apart with operators wearing masks. They were pacifying people on the other
Palwal: Telephones were constantly buzzing on each of the four tables placed a metre apart with operators wearing masks. They were pacifying people on the other end, many of them who reported cough and cold, and gave instructions on what needs to be done.
This is in the war room set up at Palwal Civil Hospital, where a dedicated round the clock facility has been put in place to check the spread of Covid-19 in the district where 28 cases have been reported so far.
On April 4, the Palwal district administration had declared 15 villages as under “containment” and 36 as buffer zones — banning the entry and exit of people in these villages — after 28 Tablighi Jamaat attendees tested Covid-19 positive in Palwal. The administration adopted the Bhilwara model as a containment strategy.
Dr. Brahmdeep Sindhu, the hospital’s chief medical officer, said that they had set up the war room on March 20, following information from The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) that a few members of the Tablighi Jamaat had visited the district. A team of doctors and nurses operate the war room, take quick decisions and rush in case of an emergency.
“We have two helpline numbers which are attended by our two staff members. They are working in two shifts of 12 hours each and attending more than 200 calls a day. The war room is also taking care of three main facilities – flu clinic, isolation ward, and quarantine centre,” he said.
The medical staff first identifies people with symptoms of Covid-19 and those who who had come in contact with infected person. They are all sent to quarantine centres till their report is out. If a patient tests positive, they are shifted to Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College, Nalhar in Nuh, immediately for isloation and those who are found negative are asked to keep themselves under home quarantine for the next 14 days.
The war room is located on the first floor of the hospital. There are senior clinical psychologists and four junior psychologists who also attend calls.
Sindhu said they hold meet thrice a day to discuss plans of action and to check progress of cases.
“We need to discuss the ongoing preparation and check the data compiled by those who return from the field in the evening. We all are connected through WhatsApp and also keep a check on the movement of doctors and staff,” he said.
The hospital has a quarantine ward with 49 patients and isolation ward with 60 patients and 707 people are under surveillance who are home quarantined.
The samples of patients are sent to Gurugram, said CMO, adding that it takes at least 24 hours to receive the report and they are getting it collected by hand to ensure no delay in the process.
On Wednesday night, ESIC Medical College and hospital in Faridabad was also converted into Covid-19 hospital. “They have converted 120 beds for coronavirus patients and also have set up an isolation ward too. The hospital is also taking care of normal patients visiting them. Now we have two facilities for the patients who test positive and we will be sending the patients to the hospital which will be closer to their residence location,” said Sindhu.
Naresh Narwal, deputy commissioner of Palwal, said they are taking initiatives at the micro level to stop the spread of coronavirus and have formed teams for surveys. “We have sent 154 samples so far out of which 110 have found negative and samples of 16 are awaited. The teams are screening and scanning each house in the containment and buffer zone and data has been collected from majorly all areas where the cases tested positive had visited,” he said.
Narwal said they prepared a micro plan for containing local transmission in three epicentre – Hathin, Lakhnaka and Rupraka. In each of these epicenters, villages have been identified and four to six teams have been deployed to conduct screening.
The district administration has formed teams consisting of police personnel, medical staff, and administration staff who are following with the 36 rescue camps set up across districts to actively trace the symptomatic cases.
Deepak Gehlawat, superintendent of police, Palwal said that the city is divided as per police station and teams are formed and one back up team each to ensure their work is seamless and well-coordinated. “Our teams are visiting all the villages and helping the medical teams in their survey and collection of samples. We have identified all the people who had attended Jamaat and their close contact. We are also getting the police personnel regularly checked to ensure they are not fit and can perform their duty without any health hazard,” he said.
