Covid-19 triggers panic in Bhiwandi school, village after 28 students test +ve

TwentyEight Covidpositive students from a tribal residential school in Bhiwandi left the premises and went back to their homes to avoid being isolated on Monday posing risk to the people they came in contact with The incident took place at the tribal school in Chimbipada village during a testing camp which was organised after a number of students showed symptoms As part of the camp around 500 students were to be tested However after around 198 tests were done 28 of the were positive there was a rumour that one of the students died leading to panic Meanwhile the parents from nearby villages heard that their wards were tested and gheraoed the school When ambulances arrived to take the positive students to a health facility the parents and students fled from the schoolThe tribal residential school at Chimbipada villageTesting campldquoWe had received information that students at the residential school had Covid symptoms and were suffering from cold and cough The tribal project officer had written to us to conduct tests of all students and staff members at the schoolrdquo Dr Madhav Waghmare Taluka Medical Officer told midday Medical Officer Dr Dharne Dattatreya said ldquoOur team members visited the school with testing kits and other medical equipment There a total of 476 students present and they were told that they would be tested for Covidrdquo He added that of the 198 students tested 28 tested positive along with two nonteaching staff membersPanic strikesThe positive test reports led to panic among students said Dr Swapnali Patil medical officer ldquoWhen their parents heard their children were being tested they gheraoed the premises and tried to take their children homerdquo he added Though the doctors tried to convince the parents to get the students admitted they were not willing to cooperate These students belong to nine villages including Balkhadi Dodhdepada Kaman Kharbav Godhavali Kuhe Tepachapada Chimbipada Khadki mdashall are tribaldominated areas with poor literacy rateMedical officers visit the homes of the students in their villagesVillagers SpeakWhen a midday team visited these villages they found most villagers without masks They however covered their faces after noticing the camera The Covidpositive students too were seen mingling freely with their parents neighbours and other children without following any protocols Many villagers told midday they were scared to visit hospitals as according to them ldquothose who were admitted to hospitals never returned homerdquo This coupled with lack of awareness about Covid19 led to their fear of being isolated or even getting tested ldquoWho will take care of my child at the hospital if he is admitted there I will be shooed away by security personnel and not allowed to enter the hospitalrdquo said the father of a child who tested positive at the schoolTribal leader roped inSince the parents were not getting convinced about getting their wards and themselves isolated authorities approached Vivek Pandit tribal leader and chairman of a panel appointed by the state government to check the status of tribal schemes on Tuesday ldquoThere are four gram panchayats there and each panchayat has around 5000 people So nearly 20000 people had been in panic mode since Monday I visited the school and met the government doctors who narrated their ordeal to merdquo Pandit told middayldquoI also visited various villages and met the parents and children who tested positive but did not isolate I have convinced them to cooperate with the government as it could be dangerous if not treated on timerdquo he added Pandit said ldquoI have been told there was a rumour that one child had died Though none of them checked who died and where the rumour triggered panic among students Later when three ambulances arrived it aggravated their anxiety Had the situation been handled carefully this would not have happened They should have counselled the students tacticallyrdquoSchool to be Covid facilityAfter talking to medical practitioners as well as parents and students the tribal residential school at Chimbipada is being turned into a Covid facility where the students will be admitted Dr Vinay Patil who visited various villages along with Pandit on Tuesday said ldquoContacttracing will be difficult as most of the students returned to their homes without taking any precautions This is the third wave which is targeting childrenrdquoPaediatrician Dr Varsha Bhosale also visited various villages to ascertain the level of pandemic threat ldquoMost of the kids who are positive have mild symptoms Their oxygen saturation level as well as body temperature is normalrdquo Dr Bhosale said Pandit said as per government data that there are over 3 lakh people above 18 years in Bhiwandi rural and added ldquoAround 79 per cent of adults have taken their first dose of vaccine whereas only 50 per cent have taken both dosesrdquo28No of students who tested positive at the school