E-Paper
PMC claims 15 lakh contacts traced, patients share different story
These 15 lakh contacts are of index cases which were tracked to break the chain of further infection
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has disclosed in its recent report that about 15 lakh contacts of index cases have been traced and screened since March 9, when the first Covid-19 case was reported.
These 15 lakh contacts are of index cases which were tracked to break the chain of further infection, claimed the PMC report even as the city’s tally has continued to surge. The PMC claims that it has traced over 15 lakh contacts till 16 September of which four lakh are high-risk contacts, which includes family members mostly or those who might have come in close contact with the person, and remaining 11 lakh were low-risk contacts. A total of 768 teams are on the field doing this work. The average contact tracing is about 12.39 contacts for every index Covid-19 positive person.
While the PMC has failed to reach out to contacts in some cases, the lack of communication from private labs and citizens’ resistance to disclose information is proving to be a major hurdle, said public representatives.
Vrunda B lives in Katraj and tested positive on August 24. She was contacted by PMC almost 15 days later, when she had completed her home quarantine period, enquiring who had come in contact with her. As she was asymptomatic, Vrunda B was isolated at home after completing due process of filing up a form.
Vrunda B said, “I got a call from the civic body after 15 days when I had completed my home isolation period. Before being isolated at home, we completed all the necessary formalities, but were still not contacted by the PMC.”
Deepali Yakkundi, a resident of Warje, said, “My child, husband and I tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday morning and as of Saturday night, I have not got any call from the civic body seeking details of those who came in contact with my family. I got my test done from a private lab, but the information has been updated on the Aarogya Setu app which means that the data has been sent to PMC, but we have not got any call from the civic body.”
While contact tracing helps health authorities break the chain of the infection, any delay or laxity leads to further spread of the virus.
NCP councillor Yogesh Sasane from Hadapsar said that the poor contact tracing mechanism is due to lack of cooperation by private labs. “PMC usually contacts the patient as soon as the report comes and then checks all the places he or she visited in the last eight days or the people they met. The problem comes when the reports reaches late or doesn’t reach the PMC at all. The private labs hide information as requested by the patient which puts many people at risk,” said Sasane.
However, in some cases the PMC has been able to gain brownie points in efficiently contacting the person. Rahul Sangoi, a businessman tested positive on September 7 and he said that he got multiple calls from the PMC commissioner’s office, the local ward office and the nearby hospital to check for all the people he might have come in contact in the last eight days. He said, “I also got follow up calls regarding my health daily. My family was also tested.”
Vaishali Jadhav, PMC officer responsible for contact tracing, said, “There is a lack of response from people whenever they are contacted. They simply say they have not gone out anywhere in the past one week. In the initial days, they did provide the information, but now the situation is different. Even during the door-to-door survey, they hide information about symptoms. The stigma is so much that some doctors are also being partial towards patients or encouraging such a behaviour. All this leads to poor contact tracing. Also, private labs do not provide information on time. We have sent them show cause notices for late reporting.”
Contact Tracing as of September 16
Total Contacts traced: 15, 43, 181
Total High risk contacts: 4, 14, 417
Total Low risk contacts: 11, 28, 764
Average contact tracing: 12.39
Total Teams of field: 768
