In an attempt to curtail the spread of coronavirus, private doctors in Khar, Santacruz and Bandra have joined hands with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to conduct aggresive testing in these suburbs, which come under the H-west ward.
This ward presently has 799 active cases, with 2,622 cases having been reported so far. Since June, after the state government allowed relaxations in the lockdown, there has been a spike in cases in high-rises.
To make the fight against Covid-19 a community effort, Assistant Municipal Commissioner and ward officer HW Vinayak Vispute had roped in members of Advanced Locality Management (ALM) groups, which resulted in a 23 per cent dip in cases in one week.
Now, to initiate aggressive testing at the ground-level, ward officials have roped in private practitioners from area.
More than 700 private doctors will be carry out aggressive testing in high rises, gated apartments and standalone buildings, to ensure that those entering and exiting the buildings are tested.
The doctors have also started conducting fever camps on society premises and are conducting door-to-door visits, as part of the aggresive testing drive.
"A meeting has been held to sensitise the doctors regarding the situation on ground. Private practitioners have been roped in so that they can keep the civic officials in the loop," said Congress corporator of H-west, Asif Zakaria.
"Many housing societies have opened their gates to their staffers and domestic help. Apart from this, residents have also started going out to work as well. Being doctors, our job is to ensure all the employees get tested and their health conditions are monitored every day" said Dr Prathamesh Dholakia, a doctor from Bandra.
Each of the doctors have been given charge of a number of areas in his area. They are also maintaining records of the health status of their patients on a spread sheet, which is further monitored by civic health officials.
"Many cases are asymptomatic, getting detected later and by then the carrier has already infected a number of people. Thus, to curb the spread, daily testing is required," said Dr Dholakia.
Most high-rises are not allowing any visitor inside. In case there is a visitor, the person is required to get their health checked first, following which the doctor issues a health certificate. Only on producing this certificate is the person allowed access to the building. Also, if a person spends more than four hours at any house, the hosts will also be tested.
"This is a voluntary citizenship and administration partnership. Civic officials can't do everything on their own. By making the fight against the virus a community programme, the number of active cases have gone down and hopefully it will fall further in the next few weeks," said Smriti Singh, a member of citizenship group.
