The fight against #coronavirus pandemic in India has brought several unsung heroes for the limelight. Apart from policemen, doctors, medical and sanitation staff, bureaucrats are also emerging as heroes. Aged 34, the District Collector of Tiruppur district in Tamil Nadu, Vijaya Karthekyan is one such hero who emerged in past few months due to his effective work.
He assumed charge on 25/9/19. Ever since #India announced countrywide #lockdown a lockdown to break the transmission of #Corona virus, sensitising people about importance of social distancing and staying at home is one major task government has had.
A disinfection tunnel and a volunteer WhatsApp group are just some of the initiatives taken by the DC to curb the spread of #Covid19 in Tiruppur district.
” One has to be proactive to achieve something, that’s how I was able to initiate many precautionary programs to curb spread of Corona virus in my district.” The DC has said.
A disinfectant tunnel was installed outside a farmer’s market in Thennapalayan town .The 16-feet-long stainless steel structure, built at at a cost of Rs 90,000, had people passing through it which was disinfected then. This structure was a supplement to regular disinfecting measures. This tunnel became a runaway hit and was replicated in many places.
Following the success of the tunnel, Vijaya Karthekyan set up a walk in sample Kiosk.(WISK) at the government hospital in his district, at the cost of Rs 1 lakh in collaboration with the Indian Medical Association. This initiative had been tried and tested in other countries, with an aim to make testing methods more accessible and safe for health workers collecting samples.
It was a unique model , with a 2 step kiosk process, one booth was set up at the entrance of the hospital area screening point. The team checks whether the patient has influenza like symptoms. If they are tested positive, they are directed to the second booth where sample collection is done before making patients enter the Isolation ward. Such collection centres will be installed in other containment zones of the district.
A group called Tiruppur Corona Fighters, with about 1000, volunteers was also formed with the aim of countering new threats posed by the spread of #corona spread. It also aimed at busting fake news and helping grocers and daily need stores in home delivery of essential items.
Karthikeyan stated that “We have to be proactive and not reactive in such crisis. As our next focus is containment we have mapped vulnerable areas, contract tracing process has begun, plans and actions have been finalised, contract tracing process has begun, #containmentzones will be earmarked and then we will follow a micro plan for all these areas”