HYDERABAD: While IT companies have gone on a prevention and sanitation overdrive in the wake of a techie contracting COVID-19, large residential complexes are not far behind in amping up efforts to prevent the disease from spreading. Gated communities across the west zone of Hyderabad, which houses lakhs of IT professionals, have invested heavily on masks, gloves and disinfectants and are starting a methodical cleaning process of the common areas.
Among these are the likes of My Home Jewel with nearly 2,000 occupied flats that have set up a robust mechanism to prevent the spread of the dreaded COVID-19 virus. The residential welfare society has trained nearly 400 support staff and 800 domestic workers on how to maintain personal sanitation and take care of sanitation in the houses that they work in.
“The staff have been told to sanitise the common areas and facilities like door handles, lift buttons, taps, restrooms and others four times a day and have been given a sustained stock of disinfectants. We have also appraised them of the situation and are working with them to prevent the spread of the virus,” noted Prashanth Kongati, president of My Home Jewel Resident Association.
Similar measures have also been taken at the gated communities at Manikonda and Puppalaguda, where they have now closed down the entire pool till things get better. The apartment complex of Aparna Group occupied predominantly by IT employees at Gopanpally has issued an advisory on the resident welfare social media groups and have suspended gatherings. “We had two events planned for Women’s Day and for Holi. However, both have been postponed indefinitely in light of the new developments,” said Vijay Ivaturi, a resident.
The reason behind taking such proactive measures is that the IT professionals have realised that they have a travel history to the affected countries abroad, and hence are trying to ensure that they do not aggravate the situation in case they show symptoms.
Meanwhile at Alakapoor township, the residents have been raising the issue of overpriced masks with the authorities.
Activist demands closure of schools
As a precautionary measure, some private schools in Hyderabad would remain closed till March 11. The private schools have also postponed the exam, which was to be conducted on March 11 and 12. “The government should keep the schools closed to prevent the possibility of children contracting the virus,” said Achyuta Rao, president of Bala Hakkula Sangham. He said, “The government should soon declare all private and government schools as closed. At least the schools which are in vulnerable areas should be closed”. The officials informed that the School Education Department secretaries were creating awareness on the importance of frequently washing hands at all the schools