Door-to-door surveillance for fever cases under way

But people move freely without wearing mask in containment zones, say residents

Door-to-door surveillance for fever cases is under way in the 57 containment zones in Madurai district.

The containment plan is based on number of cases recorded in each area. Under the corporation limits, streets where there are more than three cases will be cordoned off. “In rural areas though, we are cordoning off streets even if a single case is reported. Barricades are placed and stickers pasted on the houses of the patients,” a health official said.

He said they had been doing door-to-door surveillance surveillance every day for fever cases and following routine containment procedures such as extensive disinfection.

However, restriction on movement inside the containment had not been curtailed, said a staff. Residents said the basic containment and disinfection procedure was followed but door-to-door surveillance was not conducted in many areas.

An official from Sholavandhan said, “Three people in Chinnakarai Street tested positive for COVID-19 and were sent to Government Rajaji Hospital. We disinfect their houses and clean the street. People are allowed to move in and out of containment zones but they must wear mask,” he said.

Two others tested positive in villages away from Sholavandan. “We did not cordon off the area but did disinfection in and outside their houses,” he said.

In Paravai area, there are eight containment zones, including one in Muniyandi Koil Street in Sathiyamoorthy Nagar. However, N. Nagarajan, who lives nearby, said it was not cordoned off. But an official from the town panchayat said since only members of one family had tested positive they did not cordon off the area, but would do it by Thursday. He said most of the patients from Paravai area had been discharged and the containment zones would remain for only one more week.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) functionary J. Lenin said Mela Anuppanadi had many streets under containment. The corporation was undertaking disinfection but many residents inside the containment zones walked inside without wearing mask. “Since the areas are blocked, they also gather for chit-chat. People are yet to realise the seriousness of the disease,” he said.

Collector T. G. Vinay said containment activities had been taken up vigorously. Apart from disinfecting, they were providing zinc and vitamin tablets and kabasura kudineer to build immunity of the residents. They were educating the residents on the dos and dont’s through public address system. “We are making maximum efforts toward door-to-door fever surveillance and containing fever cases to stop the spread of COVID-19,” he said.