Seven districts have no case of Covid-19 so far

While Maharashtra has reported the most number of Covid-19 cases in the country, seven districts in the state – Parbhani, Nandurbar, Nanded, Wardha, Bhandara, Chandrapur

While Maharashtra has reported the most number of Covid-19 cases in the country, seven districts in the state – Parbhani, Nandurbar, Nanded, Wardha, Bhandara, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli – have not reported a single case so far.

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Local authorities are now adopting safety measures like organising door-to-door surveys; quarantining people with international travel history; treating those with respiratory problems; home delivering essentials; setting up mobile clinics; disinfecting vehicles entering the district; and restricting the supply of produce from districts affected by the virus. This is in addition to the lockdown restrictions imposed by the state government.

Under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897, the state government has empowered district collectors to take decisions they feel are necessary to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Parbhani collector Deepak Mugalikar said his district borders were sealed even before the decision by the state government. “We chose to seal the border on March 11. With the help of asha and anganwadi workers, door-to-door surveys were carried out of 2.5 lakh houses in the city and around 30,000 houses in villages. With this, we could identify 62 people who had travelled abroad but did not report to the local authorities. They were quarantined at government facilities and all tested negative. Also, 1,150 people with respiratory problems were identified, of whom 750 who needed treatment were admitted to hospital and treated,” Mugalikar said.

“Around 36,000 people who have come from cities such as Mumbai and Pune were also home quarantined for 14 days. Vegetable markets were divided into several sections and a mobile application is being used for home delivery of essentials. People have to put in their demand and we ensure they get the items at home,” he said.

In Parbhani, 333 people were tested and 289 reports came back negative. Test reports of the remaining 35 people are still pending.

Vipin Itankar, district collector of Nanded said they identified 70,000 people who had come from different cities and were quarantined for 14 days. “With the help of asha and anganwadi workers, we are still conducting regular medical check-ups of these people as we have heard that a person can test positive even after 14 days. We have also set up 14 fever clinics and one mobile clinic to test people having symptoms of cough, cold, and fever,” Itankar said.

Those who have returned from abroad were also quarantined and tested negative. In Nanded, medical check-ups are being conducted on those entering the district with supplies of essential commodities, Itankar added.

Wardha collector Vivek Bhimanwar said that they are strictly following social distancing in the district by dividing two major vegetable markets across 18 open grounds. “All the crowded places are being monitored by a dedicated officer. Around 16,000 people who have come from cities like Pune and Mumbai have been home quarantined and visited twice in a day by dedicated staff. Also, 230 people who had travelled abroad were quarantined at government facilities and were tested. Test reports of around 160 people have come back negative,” Bhimanwar said.

The districts adjoining Wardha, such as Nagpur and Yavatmal, have reported Covid-19 cases. Considering this, the district collector has stopped vegetable supplies from these districts.