‘It was a challenge, deftly handled by team work’

Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G Sankar, who is credited to have successfully led the combat against Covid-19 in Mysuru, said: “It was a challenge, but it was deftly handled by team work”.

Sankar said, “Initially we were concentrating on foreigners and foreign-returnees, but the detection of the first case relating to Jubilant on March 26 came as a surprise. It also posed a big challenge. In fact, it was and is a mystery even today”.

“As it was an unforeseen situation, a discussion with the officials concerned was held and we acted swiftly. We screened nearly 750 of the total 1,483 employees of the company on March 27 itself and sent them for home quarantine, immediately. A survey of the remaining employees was held. The role of DHO Dr R Venkatesh, his team of healthcare professionals, SP C B Ryshyanth and his team and revenue department officials in tracing them was immense”.

“We created a cluster containment zone, which was a new concept, comprising Nanjangud town and neighbouring villages, covering nearly 60,000 people. We replicated the Kalaburagi model and created a single entry point and a single exit point and diverted the national highway to Tamil Nadu via T Narsipur,” Sankar said.

“When the number of positive cases related to Jubilant started increasing, we were worried. But, we put a contingency plan in place. In the last week of March, we were ready to take up to 600 patients. Materials to meet their needs were purchased. There were also plans to set up make-shift hospitals, like in China, and some community halls were short-listed for the purpose,” the DC said.

“Teams of officials were formed and were trained by experts for their delegated responsibilities,” he said.

One of the positive things about the whole exercise is that people have realised that only the government machinery can deliver in times of crisis or a pandemic. All government officials, and also Asha workers, rose to the occasion, they delivered their best, with courage and commitment,” said Sankar.