11 Delhi offices compiling travel data on outbreak

Seven people have been working twelve hours a day, compiling data on people who have travelled from other nations to East Delhi; eleven such offices in each district carry out the same exercise every day

NEW DELHI: Eleven offices across Delhi are compiling data on people who have travelled from other countries in the last 14 days, calling people every day to assess their health condition in view of the coronavirus outbreak. “The list changes every day. We add the names, addresses, and phone numbers of those who returned on the day and remove the names of those whose 14-day surveillance is over,” said an officer.

NEW DELHI:IN a two-room office of the Chief District Medical Officer inside an under-repair dispensary at Surajmal Vihar, at least seven people have been working twelve hours a day, compiling data on people who have travelled from other countries to the East Delhi district in the last 14 days. The revised list of these 356 people will be sent to the 19 dispensaries under the East district for either home visits or to call twice a day and check whether any of them have developed symptoms.

This list includes at least 41 of the 105 contacts of the first positive coronavirus case in Delhi traced by the district surveillance officers.

“The list changes every day. We add the names, addresses, and phone numbers of those who returned on the day and remove the names of those whose 14-day surveillance is over,” said one of the officers from the East district.

Some are busy calling, others are taking stock of what has happened and what needs to be done in one of the rooms, with four computers and a broken air-conditioner, which is used as a table to keep bags and helmets. They don’t shake hands, but a jug of water is passed among all.

Eleven such offices in each district carry out the same exercise every day. In total, calls to check on 4,602 people are being made twice every day to assess their condition by these offices and the dispensaries under them. By 7pm, an update on what has been done is shared with state office, a four-room facility in a government building in Laxmi Nagar.

Amid all the calls and messages from the state control room, the East district surveillance officer also has to ensure that his mobile phone battery never dies.“i have been on-call 24*7 since mid-january, when the screenings began. I have to ensure my phone is always on and I am available to answer any queries that people from the district might have. The state and the national help-line numbers have the contact details of all the district surveillance officers (DSO) and share it with the callers. I have to ask them for their symptoms and travel history and ensure that whoever needs it, reaches RML hospital and gets tested,” said the DSO, asking not to be named.

Within the span of two hours, he receives at least seven calls.

“Earlier, I used to get only four or five calls a day, but the number has shot up since the first Delhi case from Mayur Vihar was reported,” he said. One of the callers is a woman whose husband recently returned from a trip to Dubai. He had fever, cough, and weakness. After taking the person’s history, the DSO asked her not to panic, to give her husband oral-rehydration solution, and then take him to ward no 5 at RML hospital to get tested.

“Do not queue up anywhere at the hospital. Go straight to ward no 5. I am requesting an ambuservices lance be sent to your place immediately. Please do not take a cab or any public transport because if he does have the viral infection he might pass it on,” the DSO explains. “At the hospital, make sure that you keep a distance of 1 metre from everybody in the ward, they are all suspected to have the novel coronavirus. And, do not touch your eye, nose and mouth,” he says. He also assures them that they will not have to pay for the ambulance or the test.

Some of the ambulances of the Central Accident and Trauma

› I have been on-call 24*7 since January, when the screenings began. I have to ensure my phone is always on and I am available to answer any queries that people from the district might have.

DISTRICT SURVEILLANCE OFFICER

(CATS) have been reserved for transporting people suspected to have coronavirus infection. These ambulances are sanitised after each call.

Another caller, who has fever and a cold and no history of travel abroad in the immediate family, is asked to stay at home, take rest, and have plenty of fluids.

“Sometimes I also get calls of people asking whether they should try homeopathic remedies. I explain to them that there is no known cure for this viral infection, but if they want they can take it,” he says.