BHUBANESWAR: Dense in population, the squatter settlements and slums have emerged as a major challenge in Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s fight to control the Covid-19 spread in the Capital City.Of the 283 positive cases registered so far in Bhubaneswar, 191 were reported between June 4 and June 26. At least 95 of these are local cases. What has pressed the panic button is that the slums have contributed 30 cases so far and in multiple cases, the source of infection is unknown despite active surveillance by the city administration.
Bhubaneswar has over 436 slums of which more than 300 are unauthorised. Though novel coronavirus cases have been reported from 12 slums so far, the infection has started spreading to other areas as new cases are emerging almost every day.The first case reported from a slum was on June 4 when the city was celebrating no active case since the outbreak on March 15. The case of Salia Sahi was a pregnant woman who tested positive for Covid-19 prior to her delivery at Capital Hospital. So far, six positive cases have been reported from the slum.
A little Dharavi of Bhubaneswar, Salia Sahi spreads over an area of around 256 acre and is home to over 1 lakh people from different districts of the State. Consisting of around 35 clusters, the huge slum is source for support service workers to housing complexes, apartments, offices and commercial establishments including hotels, restaurants, malls and educational institutions. A further spike in the cases could prove challenging given the density of population and challenges of screening as well as quarantine practices. That much of the residents of Salia Sahi are from high case-load districts is a bigger challenge at hand.
Apart from Salia Sahi, Covid cases have been recorded from Subas Nagar, Hadabai, Neelachakra Nagar, Biseswar Basti, Baliapata, Munda Sahi, Mahima Nagar near Gadakana, Laxmi Nagar and a slum in Mancheswar industrial area. Two of them were declared containment zones by BMC.Bhubaneswar first witnessed a spurt in cases in March and early April following the arrival of people from foreign countries and Covid hotspots in Delhi. The numbers, however, went down following aggressive contact tracing and containment of affected areas besides the strict lockdown measures.
After lockdown norms were eased, people began flouting social distancing norms prompting the State Government to announce weekend shutdown in 11 districts from June 6 to contain the spread of the infection. Bhubaneswar was part of it.
Fear of community transmission
With migrants from other districts returning without proper surveillance, the rising number of local cases has sparked fear of community transmission as BMC has not been able to provide information on the source of infection of most of the slum cases.Of the 95 local cases, the civic body has not been able to give information on the source of transmission in at least 22 cases. These cases include persons infected in non-Covid hospitals as well as city slums.
The BMC which regularly updates about the confirmed cases has been silent on the source of infection of at least five persons tested positive in private hospitals. The spread of infection in Blue Wheel hospital where 42 frontline healthcare workers have tested positive so far remains unexplained. The hospital has been sealed by the BMC authorities for violation of Covid guidelines.“Infection may have spread after an emergency surgery on a patient who later tested positive. It, however, has not been established yet. Further verification is on,” a doctor from the urban health wing of BMC said.
Tight-lipped on data
Even as the slums in the city remain grey areas in absence of strict surveillance and proper contact tracing, BMC authorities and Health department are tight-lipped over the number of samples collected from different areas in the city. There is a stoic silence on the test numbers as well as contact tracing in the City. While BMC authorities claimed more than 500 samples have been collected from Salia Sahi alone, there is no data on the number of samples collected from other slums from where more than 20 cases have been reported.
Compliance, meaningless in slums
Living in congested and crowded houses with shared basic amenities, it is difficult for slum dwellers to practise Covid-19 guidelines of social distancing, use mask, frequent hand-washing with soap or sanitiser and hygiene to combat the spread of the virus. As per the latest National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data, one room is shared by more than two individuals in the slums in the city which implies that social distancing and home quarantine are near impossible in these areas.
The spread of the infection in slums has raised a question mark on the city administration’s preparedness. BMC Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary said prompt measures have been taken in the city, especially in slums. “We have done away with the home quarantine in slums and made 14-day institutional quarantine mandatory for people returning from Covid hotspots to the slums and Covid Sachetaks have been engaged to keep a tab on such people,” he said. The corporation has formed 446 active surveillance teams for regular survey across the City.
Battle is not over yet
The lockdown may have been eased but health experts warn that the battle is not over yet. The onset of monsoon rains is set to pose fresh challenges, including possible outbreaks of malaria and dengue apart from Covid-19 putting further strain on the health system.Additional Professor of AIIMS Community Medicine department Dr Binod Patro said the control measures should be sustained.
“Community policing is the key. Unless there is community participation, it will be difficult to keep track of the returnees. Members of slum development committees and Mahila Samitis should come forward like in Dharavi to help officials detect cases as quick as possible,” he suggested.Patro claimed that proper contact tracing and random sampling are essential to check the spread of the infection in the slums where people usually live in crammed shacks. Since most of the slums are in deplorable condition with a number of people depending on community toilets and water sources, health experts say the disease must be prevented before it spirals out of control.
2,083 Covid Sachetaks
4 lakh Slum population
positive CASES
IN SLUMS
lSubash Nagar 7 lSalia Sahi 6 lMahima Nagar 3 lLaxmi Bazaar 9 lBaliapata 1
lBisweswar 1
lHadabai Basti 1 lSikharchandi Basti 1 lAbhiram Basti 1