'Covid care centres needed in rural Karnataka'

As rural Karnataka continues to see a surge in Covid cases, finding a space for quarantine has become a challenge in villages. Since a large number of households in rural areas have a single toilet, home isolation is not effective, according to panchayat members and officials, who speak of the need for creating Covid care centres (CCCs) either at the gram panchayat-level or in hoblis.

Recently, a family of five tested Covid positive in a village in Alur taluk, Hassan. All five were isolated in their tiny home. While the husband passed away, the wife and three children remained isolated in the cramped space, risking their health, narrated a gram panchayat official here. "Their house is small for five people and they have a single toilet. Home isolation is not effective in such cases," the official explained. This is just but one instance. Several panchayat members and officials that DH reached out to, had a similar view and stressed the need for setting up CCCs to contain cases in rural areas.

At present, the state has CCCs at taluk centres. The government is ready to establish CCCs at hoblis but there are no takers for the existing centre in taluks, lamented Revenue Minister R Ashoka, who is among the ministers in-charge of Covid infrastructure in state. "Only a fraction of the beds in taluks are occupied," he said.

The hesitancy in making use of CCCs at taluks is owing to a combination of factors, including lack of transport and a general fear psychosis about hospitals. "People don't want to travel till the taluk centre when they are sick. Many do not have vehicles to go themselves admitted. So they go with the easier option of home isolation," said another panchayat member in a village in Yelandur, Chamarajanagar.

There is also an overarching perception that people who are going to hospitals for Covid treatment are not making it back. This has resulted in fear even to access the CCCs, panchayat members said.

Chittapur MLA Priyank Kharge, a former minister, opined that the government must actively encourage people to make use of CCCs. "During the first wave, most of the CCCs were full. However, the government changed protocol for quarantine and now a large section of people prefer home isolation," he said, adding that clean toilets and sanitization will incentivize people to use CCCs.