E-Paper
Smaller districts new hot spots in Madhya Pradesh
On April 28, the city with a population of about 2.10 lakh had its first Covid patient. In the past 20 days the city has registered as many as 195 positive cases; 11 people died from the infection.
Khandwa city in Nimad region, 271 kilometres north west of Bhopal, with a population of about 2 lakh as per 2011 census, witnessed as many as 90 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, most of them from a colony inhabited by trading community members whereas in the same period, Indore known as the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh, with a population of about 20 lakh (as per 2011 census), added 92 new patients, as per heath department data.
Khandwa is among the smaller districts emerging as a new Covid hot spot in the state.
Burhanpur, the neighbouring district of Khandwa, and situated, like Khandwa, on the Maharashtra border, is another district which is, of late, witnessing a spurt in new Covid-19 cases in the city.
On April 28, the city with a population of about 2.10 lakh had its first Covid patient. In the past 20 days the city has registered as many as 195 positive cases; 11 people died from the infection.
Whereas Indore, which reported its first Covid patient on March 25, has a Covid-19 positive case for about every 800 people, a small town like Burhanpur now has a Covid-19 positive case for every 1100 people. Khandwa has one Covid-19 patient for 1100 persons.
The other smaller districts worrying the government include Khargone, Dhar, Raisen, Dewas, Mandsaur and Neemuch.
As many as 45 of 52 districts have been affected by the disease, which has claimed 248 lives so far among 4977 cases.
Dr Yogesh Sharma, an epidemiologist in Khandwa, said, “The sudden spurt in positive cases is because of a particular locality reporting most of the cases. Now, we are tracing those who came in contact with these people. We are yet to know how these people contracted the virus.”
Burhapur collector Praveen Singh, said, “Initially some of those who tested positive for coronavirus happened to be public figures like two ex-corporators and a few doctors. Our contact tracing suggested that many contracted the virus from them. I have instructed authorities to ensure strict compliance of curfew restrictions in the city.”
However, public health experts and social activists said that had the state government paid attention to these districts right from the beginning, they would not have become new hot spots.
A health official from Burhanpur, who didn’t want to be named , said, “We suggested to the then collector that there should be more and more sampling and testing but he turned down our suggestions. However, the new collector has asked us to go for a massive survey and screening.”
Prakash, a social activist from Khandwa, said, “An alarming increase in Covid cases is quite unfortunate. Had the administration been alert this situation would have been averted.”
Public health expert, Amulya Nidhi, said, “Lockdown has failed and so have the state government’s other strategies as announced so far in containing the virus. The situation remains that even after two months of lockdown the government is not able to control the disease. It is high time the government should chalk out specific plans for every district, ward and block and also involve representatives of all the sections of society including health experts in this exercise.”
A health department official who didn’t want to be named said, “Since districts in Nimad region are situated on MP-Maharashtra border, travel of people from MP to Maharashtra and vice versa appears to be one of the main reasons. Testing of samples has been increased in these districts from an average 50 per day to more than 200 per day.”
He said, “We have identified at least 10 districts which were added to the list of Covid-19 patients in the past fortnight due to migrant labourers testing positive. On humanitarian grounds, we can’t stop the influx of the migrant labourers but the system is being strengthened at village and panchayat level to ensure quarantine of labourers strictly to ensure that these districts don’t emerge as further hot spots in the state.”
Health minister Narottam Mishra said, “The situation is much under control in the state. More and more people are recovering from the disease and are being discharged from hospitals. The recovery rate has gone up to more than 46%. However, we are taking all the precautions and measures for further improvement in the situation.
