HYDERABAD: A day after a 24-year-old techie, a resident of Ravi Colony in ward-5, was detected positive for Coronavirus, panic and fear have gripped the residents of the area.
While several children were made to skip school amid the virus scare on Tuesday, many families, who reside in the nearby areas, started vacating their homes fearing that they may contract the virus.
The officials of Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) claim that while ‘disinfectant drive’ has already been taken up by the department, the SCB has also been planning to distribute free masks and start an awareness campaign at all the wards.
Forty-three-year-old B Pritam, who lives just a few apartments away from the house of the first Coronavirus patient of Telangana, said, “The fear intensified among people just hours after the news broke. Many of us did not send our children to school as we fear that they are more vulnerable to virus infection”. Another parent added that they were also not letting their children go out and interact with other children.
On Tuesday, Ravi Colony at Mahendra Hills bore a resemblance to a ghost town -- closed doors and windows and deserted roads with just a handful of people wearing masks and moving their luggage to their relatives and friends’ place.
Lohita Lahari, 16, who lives with her parents next to the techie’s house, was among the many who were vacating their houses on Tuesday.
“Those who live close to the victim’s house vacated their homes on Monday night itself. Now, others are also thinking of doing the same. We are also going to request the school authorities in the area to shut the schools for a few days,” added another resident of Ravi Colony.
Meanwhile, SCB vice-president J Rama Krishna, who is also the elected member of ward-5, told the Express, “Soon after the reports of the first positive case of Coronavirus patient belonging to Secunderabad Cantonment broke, the sanitation department was informed to take up sanitation work. We are also designing pamphlets as part of awareness campaigns. We will start distributing them from Wednesday,” Rama Krishna said.
The officials have also been planning to hold several colony meetings to urge residents to take up further safety measures. All the social media platforms and resident association WhatsApp groups would be used to circulate awareness messages by the SCB, the officials added.
The SCB sanitation superintendent, Devender Medarapu, said, “We have started spraying bleaching powder and lime powder and have taken up anti-larval operations, especially at Ravi Colony. In the next few days, we will cover all 200 garbage collecting areas, open plots and all the wards of the SCB.”