35 new cases daily in Vasai-Virar; Nalasopara emerging as hotspot

Shriram Nagar in Nalasopara is a Containment Zone. Pic/Hanif Patel

Municipal officials in Vasai-Virar declared several areas as Containment Zones, 10 days after mid-day reported about Nalasopara emerging as a COVID-19 hotspot. Civic and health workers, however, are claiming that the residents are neither cooperating nor following the government's orders.

Municipal chief, Gangatharan D met with doctors, police and health workers on June 17 and decided to convert areas in Nalasoparas into CZs.

COVID-19 has spread rapidly in Vasai-Virar in the past 15 days amid weak infrastructure and closely packed homes. There are 1,845 COVID-19 cases and 72 deaths in the jurisdiction of Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC).

"Till May 31, there were 261 cases. Then they started to increase. The first week of June saw 323 cases, the second week saw 432 cases and the third week saw 338 cases. Last week saw 19 deaths. Daily, 25 to 35 cases are being recorded but residents are unwilling to cooperate with health officials nor are they following government's orders," said Digambar Patil, a senior VVCMC official.

"The worst affected area is Nalasopara East where 716 corona cases were found and 40 people died last week. Also, 399 patients were discharged," Patil said.

Several chawls - Santosh Bhuvan, Shriram Nagar, Dhaniv, Valaipada, Wakanpada and others - have been declared as CZs where only vehicles for essential services will be allowed and violators will be booked.

"In the Vasai-Nalasopara-Virar stretch, 15 locations have been declared as CZs, 161 police and 34 Home Guards personnel have been deployed," said Vijaykant Sagar, Additional Superintendent of Police, Vasai division.

'People not listening to us'

Doctors and frontline health workers in Vasai, Nalasopara and Virar said on Friday that they have been facing many difficulties.

"We have been working round the clock but people are so fearless and adamant that they are found roaming for no reason on the roads and streets. Whenever we go to trace contacts of positive patients, people do not cooperate. Either they hide whom they have met or they become aggressive to scare us away. People should understand that we are working to safeguard them and getting quarantined is not a punishment," said a doctor in Nalasopara East.

Another doctor said, "Even positive patients are not ready to get admitted to the hospital. One of them had threatened to commit suicide if he is isolated. We had to bring the police to take him to the isolation ward."

"A few others have told me that they will not go to the hospital because they will miss home-cooked food. But in the hospital, the patients will be under 24-hour observation. In emergencies, people can be saved. There is also a dearth of ambulances and health workers," the doctor added.

Health workers told mid-day that numbers have risen steeply because people have arrived from Mumbai where they did not get treatment or a hospital bed. "Such patients came to Vasai-Nalasopara-Virar to live with relatives or friends after May 31. They got admitted after their condition deteriorated," said a nurse working at a COVID-19 hospital in Virar.

mid-day visited several areas in Vasai-Virar and found that residents were not wearing masks; those who were, had them hanging from their necks.

"One patient who was symptomatic was tested and his report was awaited. After giving his swab, he went home in Shriram Nagar and was seen playing cards with his friends when our team went to get him isolated. This behaviour is why cases are rising," said another doctor.

Civic chief's meeting

One of the doctor's present in the meeting with the VVCMC chief, said, "There were six doctors, assistant municipal commissioners, the additional municipal commissioner and senior officers of Palghar police. It was a long meeting on Wednesday evening. In the areas demarcated as CZs, police have been asked strictly monitor the movement of people." Several residents of Sriram Nagar and Santosh Bhuvan told mid-day that the people generally come together to buy vegetables in the morning and evening. "After May 31, people think that the threat has subsided and that life is normal. They don't follow social distancing. We have to cooperate with the civic teams to fight the pandemic. I would also request civic officials to disinfect toilets at regular intervals as the chances of community spread loom large," said Deepak Bhagat, a resident of Shriram Nagar chawl, whose neighbour tested positive.

Fifteen areas in Vasai-Virar have been declared Containment Zones. Pics/Hanif Patel

Additional SP Sagar added, "Till date, we have registered 762 cases against people who violated lockdown norms. Violators are booked under Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the IPC."

Hospitals race to provide COVID care

A private hospital, Riddhi Vinayak Multispeciality Hospital in Nalasopara, where patients with comorbidities are admitted, has only 20 ICU beds.

Sources in the VVCMC told mid-day that discussions are underway to rope-in private hospitals to assist civic health workers.

Asymptomatic, high-risk contacts are being kept in GG College in Vasai where 400 non-ICU beds have been arranged. Out of these, 340 beds are occupied.

Symptomatic, high-risk contacts are being admitted to Agarwal Hospital in Nalasopara where 69 of 70 non-ICU beds are occupied. A MHADA building in Virar West has been turned into a quarantine facility with many non-ICU beds. As of now, 371 people are admitted here.

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