‘Strictly Enforcing Home Quarantine & Social Distancing is Now Our Top Priority’- DC Sindhu B Rupesh

‘Strictly Enforcing Home Quarantine & Social Distancing is Now Our Top Priority’- DC Sindhu B Rupesh

 ‘Strictly Enforcing Home Quarantine & Social Distancing is Our Top Priority’- DC Sindhu B Rupesh, during the “Meet The Press” held at Mangaluru Press Club organized by Dakshina Kannada Workers Journalists Union in association with Department of Information and Public Relations, Mangaluru, on the prevention and awareness of Coronavirus/Covid-19

Mangaluru: During the “Meet The Press” organized by District Kannada Working Journalist Union, in association with Department of Information and Pubic Relations, held at Mangaluru Press Club on Friday, 20 March 2020, Deputy Commissioner Sindhu P Rupesh said, “Right at the moment even though extra precautions are being taken, which is still not enough,a s the death from Coronavirus/Covid-19 keeps increasing, therefore our top priority is to strictly enforce Home Quarantine and Social Distancing. I urge that everyone need to follow the guidelines issued by us, follow self-isolation, and try to stay as much as you can and try avoiding need needed travel out of town”.

She further said, “It’s a very good decision taken by the government to suspend international flights from Sunday, 22 March, and also closed the Indian borders. As of now nearly 1000 are in home quarantine, and we have been keeping track of all suspects which is important, even though it is a difficult task. Visiting passengers from other countries should strictly listen tour guidelines and accept home quarantine- there is no excuse for that. Safety of the visiting persons and their family members when they are on quarantine is our keen concern, and we constantly keep in touch with their health conditions through phone calls, even though it may be irritation for many- but they have to sacrifice and cooperate with us”.

“Disobeying home quarantine when said to and moving around will not serve the purpose nor make any sense. We suggest that persons on home quarantine need to be in isolation for at least 14 days, and if needed few more days (28 days) and we if no symptoms are found they are safe to move out of the house. Persons who are in quarantine need to be isolated in a separate room, so that other family members are safe from getting the disease. When passengers arrive at the Mangalore International Airport they will be screened thoroughly, will be given Home quarantine guidelines, which they should implement it with all seriousness. Even Social Distancing is a very important at the moment. I know it is hard to remain away from friends and others, but as a safety precautions people need to have patience, and cooperate for a while until everything seem to be okay” added DC Sindhu.

DC further said, “We will be soon having a bigger isolation space at Govt Wenlock hospital, and if any positive Covid-19 are detected we put those people in total isolation facility and with medical care. ESI hospital services will be utilized to regulate coronavirus infection, and even NMPT Hospital has been readied for this task. We have been tracking down non people who had visited from Gulf countries prior to March month. Specially equipped ambulances and with trained drivers and staff are stationed at the airport. People should accept the stamping at the airport with pride because we are not criticizing them, but it is a formality we are sticking to. It is not necessary to wear mask by everyone- Only those who are ill and suffering from symptoms of the disease need to wear masks. Still, we have taken precautions to ensure that there is no shortage of stock of masks in the district. The department of drugs control will keep an eye on the situation. We have also asked the concerned to monitor selling price of the masks. But above, we need the full cooperation and support from the public during this time of pandemic, and everyone need to follow the guidelines to remain safe and healthy”

Also speaking on the occasion, Ms Gayathri Nayak-the MCC Development Cell Officer said, “We have known about this Covid-19 disease since November 2019 when it spread in China, but we never expected that it would spread to India so quick. Since we have two ports here- Seaport and airport, since January end, we have been screening passengers at the port and airport and taking all type of preventive measures to control coronavirus. Initially we were doing doing thermal scanning, but now we are doing extensive screening at the airport. The passengers who undergo thermal scanning with no symptoms are advised to stay at home. Those who show certain symptoms like fever, cough or headache, we give them care at Wenlock Hospital, and after we suggest that the patient adhere to as many as 14 days of home quarantine”.

Ms Nayak further said, “We have also deputed over 1000 ASHA workers to visit homes and spread awareness and give guidelines on Covid-19. Over 2 lakh homes/apartments have been visited by these workers which seems to be a good job done by them so far. Coronavirus spreads quickly, unlike Dengue which spreads slowly, therefore extra precautions and quick cation need to be taken to tackle Covid-19. Also we should not criticize anyone because of their Country origin or anyone show slight symptoms like cough, fever, sneeze etc. We have urged other departments to take action when needed and spread awareness on this deadly disease”.

In-charge District Health Officer Dr Rajesh also speaking said, “This virus is not something, it has originated since years, even when I was small. The present Covid-19 is just a mutation from the original virus, and has gone out of control, for which we all need to be cautious, and take precautions before it spreads and affects us. Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a new strain that was discovered in 2019 and has not been previously identified in humans”.

Dr Rajesh further said, “Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death. Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing. There is nothing wrong in consuming any kind of meat, but make sure the meat is boiled well”. .

Senior Assistant Director at Department of Information and Public Relations Khader Shah was also present on the dais. On the occasion masks were distributed to a bunch of journos by DC. District Working Journalist Union president Srinivas Nayak Indaje welcomed the gathering, general secretary Ibrahim Adkastala proposed the vote of thanks, and the programme was compered by journo R C Bhat.