Corona Shielder
The Nashik municipal commissioner had formed 170 surveillance teams on March 3, the day Maharashtra’s first COVID-19 positive patient was detected in nearby Pune. On March 10, when Nashik got its first patient, a member of the Tablighi Jamaat who had returned from the markaz in Delhi, Game aggressively started tracing his close contacts and quarantining them. By then, Nashik’s Zakir Hussain Hospital, run by the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC), was equipped with 300 beds. The city has a strong team of 1,200 doctors.
The biggest challenge has been tracing suspected patients. Game developed a mobile app, the ‘Corona Kavach’, to keep track of high-risk patients. Installing the app is mandatory for everyone who is quarantined. “It helped us geo-tag them to trace their movements,” says Game. On April 21, there were only 10 positive patients in Nashik, despite 705 people from COVID-19 affected areas visiting the city. Game traced down all 705 and their close contacts to screen them for symptoms. Of the 427 quarantined people, 300 have been discharged. On April 21, there were 46 people under close watch. Nashik city is now in the orange zone, so the lockdown is partially lifted. A mobile app, ‘Nashik Bazar’, has been designed to facilitate direct selling of vegetables by farmers. Game has designated one farmer in each of the city’s 122 wards. “We ensured that the people got essential items in their vicinity. It helped avoid crowding,” he says. ■