BHOPAL: The focus on prevention of coronavirus spread has now shifted from urban areas to rural with the reverse migration of people after the announcement of national lockdown. In Madhya Pradesh there has been an influx of more than two lakh people.
State government has issued instructions to all districts headquarters to take special care in dealing with people coming back to their native places. “Nobody should be allowed to enter the village without thermal screening. If there is any symptom, such people should be put in 14 days quarantine,” said the order.
An officer wishing to remain anonymous said that the real threat now lies in the villages and not in cities. Urban areas have enough hospitals and care centres while the villages still lack the basic infrastructure to deal with pandemic like situation.
Testing of thousands of labourers is a big challenge when the state does not have sufficient testing kits. The chief minister had admitted in a live session that the state had only 1600 testing kits as of on Sunday though order for one lakh kits has been placed.
If the pandemic reaches villages, it will be really difficult to control as the village houses do not have enough space and facilities for a patient’s isolation. Moreover, supply of masks and sanitizers in far off areas will also be a challenge.
Similarly, numbers of volunteers are quite high in urban areas but getting trained volunteers for rural areas will also be challenge.
Asha health workers, panchayat sachivs and kotwars have been asked to remain prepared. List of teachers, NCC and NSS volunteers is also being prepared to meet any situation in the rural areas.
The challenge also increases considering the harvest season. Labourers will be required for harvesting from next week. The movement of labourers in the villages is expected to aggravate the situation.
