Haryana ropes in senior officials of different government agencies to tackle Covid-19 spread in Gurugram

Officials from Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikaran, Gurugram district administration, Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), and Haryana Roadways have been roped in to streamline data collection and take up other efforts.

With around 43% of total Covid-19 cases in Haryana reported from Gurugram, the highest for any district, the state administration has brought all hands on deck to control the fast-spreading transmission of the deadly virus in the city.

The list of positive patients will then be shared with urban Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs), who will work in coordination with the HSVP for contact tracing. (Parveen Kumar/HT file photo)

Breaching the mark of 1,500 cases on Friday, Gurugram’s current test positivity rate is almost at 47%. In a bid to tackle the situation, the administration has decided to divide all crucial tasks related to Covid-19 — collecting lab reports, contact tracing, timely hospitalisation/home isolation — among at least 14 officials of different government departments instead of giving all responsibilities to only the health department. Out of the total 3,597 cases in Haryana, 1,563 cases are from Gurgram.

Officials from Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikaran, Gurugram district administration, Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), and Haryana Roadways have been roped in to streamline data collection and take up other efforts.

From the declaration of positive patients by a lab to their contact tracing, all such duties will be shared by different government agencies. It will help us in managing the data and strengthening the infrastructure,” said Ashok Sangwan, divisional commissioner.

Under the plan, the MCG will liaison with all private labs for timely updates of test reports. “The test reports will be segregated from our end zone-wise,” said Dr Ashish Singla, medical officer, MCG. The administration has divided the district into seven zones to handle cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in different containment zones.

The list of positive patients will then be shared with urban Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs), who will work in coordination with the HSVP for contact tracing.

A 25-member control room has been set up by the HSVP for contact tracing. Jitender Yadav, administrator, HSVP and Bharat Bhushan Gogia, estate Officer, HSVP are the designated in-charges, will rope in their employees for the task. The list prepared by the HSVP will be shared with additional deputy commissioner Prashant Panwar’s team which will then monitor the health of contacts through telephonic calls.

“We have identified 40 people who will contact people with links to a positive patient,” said Panwar. “Some of them will operate from Vikas Sadan and a few from remote locations. They will inquire about the health condition of the contacts. More than 1,000 calls will be made in a day. In case, if a team member finds a persons has some health issues, we will be immediately coordinate with the ambulance and hospitalisation team,” he said.

Sonal Goel, CEO, Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL), has been designated as the supervisor for tertiary care of Covid-19 patients in private and government hospitals. Her team has prepared a reporting format using which precise data on the number of beds available for symptomatic patient in private hospitals will be collected.

“There been a lack of transparency in the past, therefore, we will be circulating a format to 23 private hospitals treating Covid-19 patients and those who have designated beds for patients, and data will be collected from them daily,” said Goel. “Once the data is final, it will be available in the public domain for Covid-19 patients to choose hospitals as per their criteria and availability of beds.”