Thane rural areas moving towards Covid-free; only 7% active cases prevalent

Gram Panchayats situated in areas like Bhiwandi, Ambernath, Kalyan, Murbad and Shahapur had seen a slight increase in cases a few months ago. However, 89 per cent have recovered from these areas

The rural areas in Thane district have become 90 per cent Covid free with only seven per cent active cases, claimed the Zilla Parishad (ZP). The ZP is looking forward to becoming Covid-free soon.

A rapid antigen test being conducted for a Thane resident. (Rishikesh Choudhary/HT)

Gram Panchayats situated in areas like Bhiwandi, Ambernath, Kalyan, Murbad and Shahapur had seen a slight increase in cases a few months ago. However, 89 per cent have recovered from these areas.

The ZP came up with a new initiative wherein areas with positive cases were declared containment zones and a health camp was setup in these zones for 14 days. They conducted regular check-ups of villagers and ensured that those with symptoms were treated at the earliest. This helped break the chain.

From September, a decline was noticed in the number of positive cases. “We have a team of medical officers, ASHA workers, Anganwadi sevika and teachers who conduct health camps in areas where a positive case is found. They are trained for the same and have played a big role in containing the virus. From among 431 gram panchayats, 376 did not have any new Covid case in the last 28 days. Currently, there are 1,212 active cases in the rural areas that constitute to only seven per cent of the total positive cases recorded till now,” said Manish Renge, district health officer, Thane ZP.

Rural areas within Thane have recorded 18,270 positive cases till now. From among these, 565 deaths have taken place and 16,493 have recovered. There are 1,212 active cases within the rural areas of the district. However, efforts to curb new cases are also undertaken.

Jithesh Vishe, deputy sarpanch, Vehlonde village, said, “If anyone from outside the village is visiting, the villagers have to first inform the gram panchayat and ensure the person has a test done before they arrive. As we have explained the impact and spread of the virus, our villagers are also very careful and ensure that there are hardly any visitors. It is with the support of the locals that we have managed without a single Covid positive case in our gram panchayat. Despite no cases, we strictly continue to follow social distancing and sanitation norms in the village.”

In July, the ZP had asked villages that did do not have a single case in 28 days to hoist a green flag in the gram panchayat. In the first week of October, there were 209 villages in Thane rural areas that hoisted green flags. Special efforts were taken to remove the fear in the minds of the residents regarding Covid. They conducted awareness and efforts were taken to trace, track and test as many as possible across Thane rural.