Sealing, sanitizing, tracking: How UP’s Maharajganj became coronvirus-free

The strategy that Maharajganj administration used to script a turnaround in its battle against Covid-19 involved sealing affected areas, tracking contacts of Tablighi Jamaat is and keeping a vigil on India-Nepal border

A multi-pronged strategy enabled Maharajganj in eastern Uttar Pradesh to script a turnaround in the battle against Covid-19 and emerge triumphant to become the state’s second district to become coronavirus- free, officials said on Friday. Pilibhit was the first district in the state to shed the corona tag earlier this week.

Villages and markets in UP’s Maharajganj were sanitised and people were directed to stay home and follow social distancing norms. (ANI / Representational Photo)

The carefully drawn plan involved sealing affected areas, sanitization, tracking the contacts of Tablighi Jamaat members and those who travelled in the same train coaches with them, besides keeping a tight vigil on the porous India-Nepal border in the district. The strategy paid off when all six Covid-19 patients in Maharajganj tested negative for the Sars-Cov-2 virus for the second time. There was no fresh coronavirus case in Maharajganj at present and the reports of 36 family members of the six patients were also negative, said district magistrate Ujjwal Kumar.

The district administration decided to discharge all six patients from hospital and shifted them to a quarantine facility for observation, according to state government guidelines.

To make sure that no other person was infected with coronavirus in the remaining villages, health department teams collected five samples at random from the villages and sent them for tests, the district magistrate said. “All the samples tested negative; it was a major relief for us,” he said.

A fortnight ago, Maharajganj was in the news after Tablighi Jamaat members, who attended the congregation organised in Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi last month, arrived in the district. Soon, the district police raided dozens of villages near Kolhui town, where many of them were staying. The Tablighi Jamaat members and their family members were taken to a quarantine facility in a school at Kamhariya Bujurg village. Subsequently, the district administration collected information about their travel details. Four villages and the market area of Kolhui town were sealed.

The health department and police teams surveyed 7,500 people and screened 40,000.

The villages and markets were sanitised and people were directed to stay home and follow social distancing norms,Kumar said. After Tablighi Jamaat members arrived in Maharajganj by train, officials alerted the Gorakhpur, Kushinagar and Deoria authorities as people of these districts had travelled in the same coaches as some of the infected patients. All the passengers were tracked and screened, but they tested negative, Kumar said.

The porous India-Nepal border in Maharajganj was sealed and samples of villagers nearby were collected for tests, he said.

“We are keeping our fingers crossed, the population of Maharajganj is around 25 lakh. A majority of the people are settled in the rural areas. There is a large movement of the migrant population from neighbouring Bihar and Nepal. Vigil has been tightened, mandis (markets) are being opened in the morning. Public places are being sanitised,” Kumar said.