Noida district puts SDMs, city magistrates in driver’s seat to control Covid-19

In a bid to control the rapid increase in the number of cases of the coronavirus (Covid-19) disease in the district, the Gautam Budh Nagar administration has decentralised

In a bid to control the rapid increase in the number of cases of the coronavirus (Covid-19) disease in the district, the Gautam Budh Nagar administration has decentralised the decision-making process and has put all incident commanders in the driver’s seat for handling all Covid-19 related efforts in their zones.

HT Image

The sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) and city magistrates in each of the five zones in the district—Noida, Dadri, Greater Noida, Sadar, and Jewar—have been given the power to take decisions on measures to contain the pandemic and will be responsible for reducing the number of Covid-19 cases in areas under their jurisdictions.

Earlier the key decisions were being made by district magistrate, chief medical officer, and surveillance officer, regarding containment zones, screening of people, and other issues, while SDMs and city magistrates were responsible for implementing the same on the ground.

“Now we have made SDMs and city magistrates as head of their respective zones. They can take prompt decisions and work according to the situation in their respective areas. Now, the health team that used to report to the CMO will work in tandem with the SDM or the city magistrate. This is to take some workload off the CMO and to take quick decisions on the ground. Our motive is to reduce the rapid rise in the positive cases,” said Narendra Bhooshan, senior IAS officer, who is the nodal officer for the Gautam Budh Nagar district.

The district has 1,262 Covid-19 cases so far. There are nearly 240 containment zones. including 140 category 1 containment zones and 100 category 2 containment zones in the district so far, said officials. Areas in containment zone category 1 have one positive case and a radius of around 250 metres, while category 2 containment zones have more than one positive case and is spread over around a 500m radius.

The SDMs and city magistrates will now have to focus on contact tracing and door-to-door screening of patients in their areas.

“Each SDM and city magistrate now needs to engage themselves in conducting contact tracing and door-to-door screening of patients. There are 600 teams for five zones for the purpose, and each team has at least two health care workers. These teams will screen residents door-to-door to identify those who may be infected so that the suspected Covid-19 patients can get treatment without any delay,” said Bhooshan. Every district in UP has a senior IAS officer appointed as a nodal officer to look after Covid-19 efforts and work effectively to contain the virus.

Gzb sets up helpdesks for screening

In the neighbouring district of Ghaziabad, district magistrate (DM) Ajay Shankar Pandey has directed the health department to set up helpdesks at different areas across the city to screen people for Covid-19.

The help desk will be set up at primary health centres, government hospitals, municipal commissioner office, district magistrate office, all zonal offices of Ghaziabad municipal corporation, and all municipal councils of the Ghaziabad district and other offices.

“People will be screened at the help desk and those who need it will be provided immediate medical help. Anyone can reach the desk and get themselves screened. Health workers will also provide important information on Covid-19,” said Pandey.

The move to set up help desks in the city is to identify infected patients quickly so that the appropriate decisions to contain the spread can be taken immediately, said, officials.