As many refuse to cooperate, PMC health dept takes police help to conduct contact tracing survey

As per the protocol, once a Covid-19 positive case is detected, the first job of the PMC health team is to start search of the first contacts of the patient. However, with number of cases rising rapidly and lack of cooperation from positive patients, the task of the health department officials has become difficult.

With the city reporting increasing number of Covid-19 (coronavirus) infections daily, it is imperative for the civic body to be able to trace the contacts of the positive cases to prevent the spread of the Sars-Cov-2 virus. However, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) employees have complained that some of the Covid-19 positive patients are not cooperating with the civic staffers who approach them to gather information for contract tracing. The non-cooperation has prompted the Pune civic body to take the help of police officials.

Police take action against violators in Kondhwa on Wednesday. The area was sealed on Monday to prevent Covid-19 spread. (Rahul Raut/HT)

As per the protocol, once a Covid-19 positive case is detected, the first job of the PMC health team is to start search of the first contacts of the patient. However, with number of cases rising rapidly and lack of cooperation from positive patients, the task of the health department officials has become difficult.

Vaishali Jadhav, assistant health chief of PMC, who is incharge for contact tracing, said, “As positive cases have increased, the work for our teams is increasing day by day to identify the contacts of the positive patient. We conduct a survey in the 1km and 3km radius, but at some sensitive places, people are not cooperating with us. They do not give the correct information and even treat our staffers badly. Hence, we are seeking police bandobast to conduct the survey.”

Jadhav added, “Our team recently visited the residence of a deceased three days before he was admitted, but the family members did not give correct information about symptoms despite asking repeatedly. If the family members had given proper information, there were chances that this person would get treatment in time and survive. We are also planning to file first information reports against such people who are not cooperating.”

Meanwhile, mayor Murlidhar Mohol appealed to citizens to cooperate with the PMC health staff who are conducting the door to door survey. Mayor said, “It is in the interest of citizens if they provide true and proper information about symptoms and any contact with positive patients as well as travel history. It will help control the spread of Covid-19.”