BHOPAL: The government is worried about the rising number of corona cases in the cities, as well as in the villages. The main problem in the villages is that most of the people there are hiding the fact that they are afflicted with the coronavirus. The villagers mistake Covid-19 for typhoid and take medicines accordingly.
Rather than recovering, the condition of such people is deteriorating. As a result, many of them are dying. There is a shortage of doctors in the cities. So, the collectors are unable to deploy the officials of the health department on duty.
Apart from that, there is a problem of isolation in the rural areas. Once people are afflicted with the disease, they rarely disclose it. So, instead of going into isolation, they spread the disease to others.
There are reports of young people dying of the disease. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has appealed to villagers not to mistake Covid-19 for typhoid.
He has also said that the fever the people are down with is nothing but Covid-19 and it should be treated that way.
The government has asked the collectors to pay full attention to villages. Once the disease spreads to rural areas, it will be difficult to check the virus. This is why the government is focusing on the rural areas.
A social worker, Madhuri Ben, says there are reports that a large number of people in the rural areas are down with fever. She also says many farm labourersí families are dying of the disease. The disease has afflicted the non-tribal people more than it has done the tribal groups, she says. As those suffering from the disease become very weak, they may be in trouble in doing hard work in coming days.
The collectors are working hard to arrest the virus, since they understand that, once the virus rages through the rural areas, it will be uncontrollable. Collector of Rewa Ilayaraja T says there are 400 Covid-19 patients in 827 village panchayats in the district. The villages have been divided into three zones. The Red Zone has more than five patients, he says. Villages with five patients come under Orange Zone and the ones with no patient are categorised as Green Zone, the collector says.
Monitoring committees have been set up in every village. As soon as the patients are identified, they are provided treatment. Most of the villagers are mistaking Covid-19 for typhoid. And, not only that, these people are visiting quacks, he says. People are being advised that, as soon as they are down with fever, they should begin treatment and undergo the test, Ilayaraja says.
The government has launched a house-to-house survey in the rural areas to identify patients.
