As the task of tracing Delhi returnees was accomplished, Telangana police are now occupied with a bigger challenge of identifying primary and secondary contacts of participants of Tablighi Jammat meet in Delhi.
In fact, it is turning out to be a complex job when a Delhi returnee is tested positive. The strategy adopted by the official machinery so far was to trace the Delhi returnee and lookout for his close and casual contacts. After sending the Delhi returnees to hospitals for quarantine, the police along with other department officials are asking family members to quarantine themselves at home.
The moment a Delhi returnee tests positive, the task becomes tougher for the police. “Now, we have to collect samples of all his family members and start identifying his casual contacts,” a police officer explained.
Jangaon contact
In Janagon district’s Narmetta area, a villager who had returned from Delhi meeting tested positive for COVID-19.
“He is a meat seller and sold meat in the village for two days after his return. After speaking with him, it was found that he had casual contacts with nearly 69 people in the village,” the police said. This included people who purchased meat from him. Now, all these 69 persons are being put in quarantine and their samples are being collected to confirm whether they contracted the virus.
“We thought tracing all those who attended Delhi meeting was a big task. More than that, identifying their primary and secondary contacts is crucial and tougher,” say field-level police officers. Even putting all Delhi returnees in quarantine in hospitals is not easy.
Police adopted the strategy of counselling them, convincing their families by counting on local leaders. Soon after getting information about the returnees, local police teams accompanied by staff of medical and municipal wings rushed to their houses. They counselled the persons. “In some cases, we had to speak with their family members and impress upon them the need to get them quarantined,” the police officers said.
In other cases, the authorities involved local community leaders to speak with the Delhi returnees. With reports of more Delhi returnees testing positive, they are getting ready for the exercise of finding close and casual contacts of them.
