Coronavirus outbreak: Big trouble brewing in Mumbai's Vasai-Virar belt

The VasaiVirar region of Palghar district where officials said a thousandplus people returned from abroad following the Coronavirus outbreak is struggling to cope with the numbersThe area has eight primary health centres PHCs but they are overwhelmed by lack of protective gear for workers just one homequarantine stamp that they all share and just one person who collects swabs and transports it to the testing centre at Kasturba Hospital in one vehicleSo far officials have recorded 606 people ndash most of whom have returned from the US Italy the Gulf states and the Oceania region ndash as being homequarantinedDistrict Health Officer Dr Dayanand Suryawanshi said that 20 of those in homequarantine have exhibited symptoms and 18 of these tested negative Results for two are awaited We are taking regular health updates from them he saidBut PHC workers on the field who have been working round the clock said that they have not been given a list of travellers from abroad yetHow will we identify and quarantine travellers with just one stamp asked a government doctor working in VasaiNeighbours and a few sensible people with foreign travel history came forward But a large number of travellers are yet to be identified This is why the number of symptomatic people or of those in selfisolation is less in the state said another doctor The doctor said one in five of the 150 people in selfisolation and kept under close observation are exhibiting symptoms But there is no testing kit available said another Also there is just one person to collect nasal and throat swabs The number of swab collectors must be increasedPatients standing in a queue at a distance from each other at DM Petit Municipal Hospital VasaiPicHanif PatelOnly one vehicle is used to take the swabs to Kasturba Hospital which takes six to eight hours to give results A private centre in the region is equipped to test samples but takes 48 hours to generate a report If local testing centres can be established we can tame the spread lesser time said the doctorThe lockdown and lack of transport have also been slowing down the process A female health worker has had to walk for a few kilometres and hitch rides I live in Nalasopara and there are no autorickshaws Today a policeman dropped me I am completely exhausted after workAlleging that senior health officials are in denial about the extent of the problem in the outskirts another PHC worker said they do not even have enough Personal Protection Equipment PPE midday spotted frontline workers who deal directly with quarantined people sporting paper masks and their own apronsIt is inexcusable The government should think about providing PPE in farflung areas said a senior state government medical practitionerDHO Dr Suryawanshi said he has now got the details of travellers from the government He claimed his department has distributed 1200 hand sanitisers 250 N95 masks for doctors and those collecting swabs and 2000 surgical masks for health workers in the district Yes some of our health workers have been travelling in their own vehicles as they have to travel only locally to meet quarantined people Every PHC has its own ambulance and own vehiclesOn the issue of testing he said till recently the district sent samples to three centres in Mumbai Pune and Nagpur but had to stop as the centres were overwhelmed We will start sending samples to private labs soon he saidCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates