COVID-19: Social distancing, self-quarantine best but not foolproof

The COVID-19 pandemic is at Stage 2 level in the country. The focus is on quarantining people who are infected or suspected to be infected. This is expected to help prevent the pandemic from moving to the next phase, community transmission.

How do Bengalureans see the unfolding scenario? Here’s a cross-section of people articulating their fears, suggestions and observations about a disease that has triggered worldwide anxiety due to the mounting toll.

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Annu Gangadharan, who works in a multinational firm notes, “Even though people are being quarantined for 14 days, the examination process is negligent. There have been instances wherein people are being untended after the observation period and have been tested positive later.”

Those subject to quarantine, she points out, are either infectious or have chances of exposure to the disease. “Hence, the patient should be re-examined on a regular basis for symptoms for a stipulated period,” says Annu.

Once the first Covid-19 positive case was identified as a techie who had returned from a foreign country, many IT companies in Bengaluru chose to let their employees work from home. This trend has now caught on, with the government too insisting on it.

“The company that I am working for has been on lockdown and preventive measures have been taken. All employees with flu-like symptoms have been advised to get immediate medical attention, and all other employees have been on mandatory work from home,” she informs.

Most of the COVID-19 death cases reported in India are senior citizens. Sixty-seven year-old Kripa Noronha, a resident of Horamavu expresses her anxiety:

“The situation is tense. And it is definitely difficult for us ‘senior citizens’. I feel the government isn’t taking many precautions with regard to those being quarantined and they aren’t aware of the seriousness of the situation.”

Also Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases

Noronha adds, “The government should first penalise those who spit on the roads and urinate as it is extremely unhygienic for pedestrians and those with low immunity.”

But this is not all about the government. Citizens too have certain responsibilities, says Dr Srinivas, a Consultant Medical Oncologist. “I feel it’s our responsibility to quarantine ourselves if we have come across other infected persons or have returned from infected countries,” he says.

Many Indians have been stranded in the severely COVID-19 infected countries of Italy and Iran. Helping them get back to India is Hannah Elsa Abraham, a Speech Language Pathologist. She has been working with a team called Flood Volunteers Family (FVF), a social media group formed after the 2018 Kerala floods.

To address the current crisis, Team FVF joined two other teams Eunnathi and Diaspora. Hannah shares her experience working with FVF, “We were working hard for the students stuck in Italy to get back. Some have returned. The best news is that with our collective pressure and social media updates from the students, the government is finally going to Rome for an evacuation on March 21. Just like the way they did for the people stuck in Milan and Iran.”

Hannah feels the only way to come out of the current crisis is social distancing and self-quarantining. “We all have to follow social distancing very importantly. If we keep ourselves from others, we help them by not spreading the virus.”

Secondly, she adds, “we must follow hand hygiene and respiratory hygiene. We may think that people are moving around, then why should I be locked up. Though we cannot force everyone to be in, we can set an example by staying indoors. Be the change and let others follow you.”