Mumbai: To help reduce Covid casualties, the BMC has decided to conduct a door-to-door survey for early detection and treatment of the most vulnerable section of society. They have named the survey as ‘Mera Parivar Meri Zimmedaari (My Family My Responsibility) ’. Health officials said they will be inviting volunteers and NGOs to help them in this initiative in order to screen more numbers of people in less time.
According to the BMC Dashboard, till now 9,63,290 senior citizens have been screened, of which 3,139 have SpO2 level below 95.
Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, said the survey will start from next week. “All they have to do is ask a resident – Are you feeling okay? or Is anyone unwell in your home? It can be a civic employee who regularly visits a locality or lives in a nearby locality. The exercise will take time, as we will work out the logistics. We will also train these employees. It is not necessary that each employee will have access to homes, so it will be a herculean task,” he said.
Kakani further said they will soon start training the health staff and volunteers who will be the main pillar for this initiative. “Senior citizens will be the first target group for such surveys, who are at a greater risk for a delay in detecting or reporting Covid-19,” he added.
Meanwhile, the state has conducted a state-wide survey in all households to identify comorbid patients in each and every district and cities.
Health activists have welcomed this move stating there are many citizens in Mumbai who are living with comorbidities which need to be administered. Currently, more than 50 per cent of people in Mumbai are suffering diabetes, hypertension and other illnesses. “This love will help to reach senior citizens on time due to which their treatment will start immediately. By this BMC will also be able to know how many more are infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus,” he said.
