VISAKHAPATNAM: Though the district did not record any positive patients till now, yet all the red zones are closely monitored by health officials to check the spread COVID-19 virus. People in the red zones continue to follow lockdown norms and contribute their bit to ward off the infection. Speaking to TNIE, a corporate employee, who lives near Muslim Thatichetlapalem and a street away from a quarantined home, said, “All the streets that leading to my house are blocked.
Only the residents are allowed in the area. A few days ago, some officials came and distributed food to people who were quarantined. Though, initially, we were scared, we realised that following the instructions of the local health officials would help us combat the situation. We now avoid coming out as much as we can and have stocked up all essentials and vegetables for a week,” he said.
Though the streets are blocked, some tend to move away from the barricades thus increasing the work of the police. However, the police are doing a commendable job asking people to wear masks and follow all necessary precautions, the corporate employee added. To ensure that people in red zones do not venture out, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has pressed into service mobile vans for fruits, vegetables, groceries and other essentials. However, the residents of red zones such as Akkayyapalem, NAD and Poorna Market claim that no mobile vans have visited their localities.
“It is a good move by the GVMC to introduce mobile vans in red zones so that most people will not go out. However, in the past few days, no mobile vans have come to our area. However, it is commendable that the officials ensure that social distancing is maintained at all shops and the rythu bazaars,” a persons from NAD Junction said. He lauded the services of sanitation workers who are disinfecting their area every two to three days after it was marked as a red zone.
Residents of the red zones said they have adopted to the lockdown conditions and are now trying to find new ways to kill time. At 4.30 pm, one can notice kites flying and people gathered on their terraces to watch the sunset and enjoy the evening summer breeze in these areas. “Due to the demands of my work, I frequently missed watching sunset. Now I am paying off for all the sunsets I had missed. Usually, we fly kites only during Sankranti. Now I teach my kids, who always want to do something new, to fly kites and also I get to meet my neighbours too. It is only during times like these that we realise how busy we were with our work,” a professor said.
Lockdown ‘leisure’ activities
Though we were initially scared, we realised that following the instructions of the health officials would help us combat the situation, an employee said
GVMC pressed into service mobile fruit and vegetable vans so that people don’t have to come out of their homes. But some claimed that vans never reached their areas
Lockdown has come as an opportunity for many to spend time with family and finding new ways to kill time
It will come as a surprise to many that kite flying has become, of late, a new way of spending time for people gathered on terraces