Lack of restricted zones, contact tracing in Ranchi

State capital Ranchi has been witnessing conspicuous absence of Covid-19 containment measures during the ongoing raging second wave in comparison to last year. At a time when almost every third or fourth house in a locality has an infected person, there were hardly any steps being taken to set up micro-containment zones, carry out contact tracing exercises and isolate those infected. This has resulted in a greater spread of the infection, thereby straining the functioning of health services in both government and private sectors.

As a result, people are struggling for even getting tested for Covid-19, while securing a bed in a hospital has become a herculean task.

The lack of contact tracing exercises can be assessed from the fact that the 710-bed isolation centre set up at Hotwar sports complex has not more than 50 patients. While the capital city has been discovering more than 1,000 positive cases on a daily basis for last 15 days, the centre is running on low occupancy. When contacted, an official at Ranchi’s civil surgeon office said, “We have to check it out as to how many patients have been staying at Hotwar isolation centre. Few days back, there were 20-25 people there.”

He said, “It’s the police who carry out contact tracing exercise and submit the list. Following this, sampling of people, who came in direct or indirect contact of the infected person, is done. We are taking samples of such persons whenever we receive a list. Micro-containment zones are being declared by respective circle officers who are made incident commanders.”

However, the ground situation averts the official’s claims. A resident of Ratu Road, Pramod Pathak, said,“Out of 12 flats in our apartment, there were a total of five Covid-19 patients till last week. But, it was never declared a containment zone.”

He added, “As a consequence, all other residents became suspect Covid-19 cases. In order to rule out the possibility, I and my wife were required to undergo the test. Besides a government centre, I tried atleast five private laboratories for home collection, but only assurances were given. Finally after many tries, a representative of one of the labs turned up after four days. The test reports came after another four days.”

Pathak is not the lone case. Almost every other civilian was running pillar to post to get the basic Covid-19 test done. Amid such a crisis, big housing societies have tied up with private laboratories for sample collection of residents.

“There have been repeated complaints of not being able to get RT-PCR test done due to long queues and backlogs. Since RT-PCR test is mandatory for getting admitted in hospitals, we have made an arrangement with one of the private labs to collect samples from our society. They come and collect the samples in one go. and give the report the next day,” said Amar Tiwari, general secretary, Sail City Residents’ Welfare Association, New Pundag.

According to the CS office, there were 12 collection centres functioning in the city, and 14-17 vehicles were pressed in service for home collection of samples.

Health experts, however, opined that strict measures are required to effectively contain the spread of the contagion. IMA state president Dr AK Singh said, “Unlike initial phases, contract tracing and declaration of microcontainment zones is hardly being done this time. People are not following Covid-19 protocols in true spirit.”

The state capital has so far reported 72,280 cases, comprising 20,033 active cases, 51,270 recoveries and 977 deaths.