Bhubaneswar: With the second wave of Covid 19 spreading its tentacles fast, medical experts here have suggested that authorities must formulate elaborate plans to check the spread of the virus in the slum areas of the capital city.
The capital city, which has seen an exponential rise in cases in the past one week, may hit the peak level of Covid infections in the month of May. Several residential buildings and government offices have been sealed in the city over violation of Covid-19 norms. Now, experts have warned that the slums could be the new hotspots for the virus infection.
“We live in a tight-knit society where people from different sections work under the same roof. The second wave of the pandemic which has brought in a new mutated version of Covid has proven to be more infectious than the earlier ones. If the new version finds its way to slums, then it would be too difficult to control its spread. Social-distancing is nearly impractical in such places,” said Prashant Mohanty, an epidemiologist.
Mohanty further said that home isolation which is recommended in most of the cases would not be possible in slums due to space crunch. “Bhubaneswar has several premium health institutes. Many Covid patients from other cities are being referred to these hospitals for better treatment. In this context, spread of virus in slums could create more trouble for all of us,” he added.
As per the data provided by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), the city has about 500 slums with more than 85,000 households having over 3.06 lakh population. The slum dwellers constitute around 36 per cent of city’s population. Covid-19 infections were reported from about 20 slums of the city last year.
“Active surveillance at slums by the civic authority is a must. Special strategies can be formulated to keep the virus away from slums. The authorities can take the help of Asha and Anganwadi workers in this regard. The slum dwellers cannot afford to huge medical expenses,” said Sanjib Das, an urban planner.
Meanwhile, the first phase of Covid surveillance by the civic authorities came to an end Sunday. As per the report, around 2.53 lakh people of 397 slums were surveyed during the drive. While only 17 people were found symptomatic for Covid-19 while four people had travel history. All symptomatic people have been asked for home isolation under strict vigil of the BMC, sources said.
PNN