‘We learned principles of control’: BMC officer on fighting COVID-19 in Mumbai

The year 2020 will go down in history as the year in which Mumbai the city that never sleeps came to a sudden jolting halt The stations were empty so were the roads and beaches Some of the busiest workers like the dabbawallahs autowallahs etc struggled to survive in the city known to fend for allThe health workers sanitation workers municipal staff and policemen stood on the frontlines and guarded the city like an army As we inch closer to the first anniversary of lockdown in Maharashtra on March 22 midday online spoke to Dr Daksha Shah deputy executive health officer of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC about her experiences of defending Mumbai in the face of a pandemiclsquoMy job was to ensure right information reaches citizensrsquoA visual from Juhu Beach Pic Satej ShindeDr Shah had the crucial responsibility of disseminating information releasing reports addressing social media queries and taking grievance calls from citizens She says ldquoIt was important to verify the facts with hospitals and deans that was going to be broadcast in the media because citizens were shrouded in fear and any piece of wrong information could have worsened the situationrdquoldquoMy responsibility was to factcheck and make sure that misinformation is not being spreadrdquo she adds ldquoI coordinated with various teams and media agencies to make sure that the reports and press notes being sent out have the right data and information I also addressed queries from media professionals seeking to confirm their own researchrdquoIn addition she also worked to execute serosurveys home isolation programmes coordinated with central and state govternments and drafted guidelines for travellerslsquoI got direct calls from citizensrsquoDr Shah reveals that in the month of May when the coronavirus cases were at the peak in Mumbai she would get direct calls from citizens seeking help She says ldquoCitizens who were not getting beds or ambulances and were sitting in front of hospitals would call me and seek help The disaster management team too would get such calls and it was a big challenge to make sure that resources and treatment were made availablerdquoThe other big challenge she says was to look out for comorbid citizens She says ldquoI still remember receiving a call at 2 am from a woman whose mother was a heart patient and it was an emergency However she was not able to secure a bed for her as the hospitals refused to admit her even though she was not a coronavirus patient Here I had to intervene speak to the doctor of the particular hospital and arrange a bedrdquoldquoBack then even the hospitals were wary of admitting comorbid patients as the suspicion of an infectious patient always prevailedrdquo she addslsquoWe learned principles of controlrsquoSwab sample being taken by a health worker Pic Satej ShindeTalking about the challenges of containing infection in a populous country like India Dr Shah says ldquoWe knew that if the infection spreads here in India like how it did in China and the European countries it would be difficult to tackle Considering our living conditions we were stressed about the virus spreading in Mumbai However we identified ways of containment on time We also learned the principles of control like identifying the source of infection tracking the contacts ensuring their isolation and quarantine etc We also learned quick responserdquoShe adds that it was a team effort ldquoDifferent teams were formed at the ward level who worked very hard to execute treatment activities like housetohouse survey contact tracking setting up of camps mobile vans and quarantine centresrdquoShe further adds ldquoWe have learned how to protect citizens and look out for the vulnerable population as we know that a large chunk of death toll comprises of senior citizens with comorbiditiesrdquolsquoCOVIDappropriate behaviour is crucialrsquoldquoEven if you have got yourself vaccinated you have to follow the safety normsrdquo says Dr Shah She goes on ldquoThere is still a chunk of the population that is vulnerable We are rolling out the vaccine in phases and even then antibody development might take time Therefore it is important to consistently abide by the norms and accept the new normalrdquolsquoWe will add more vaccination centres and resourcesrsquoSenior citizens at vaccination centre Pic Satej ShindeUpon asking how does the BMC plan to vaccinate the general public and what are the perceived challenges Dr Shah says ldquoA plan will be put in place after we are done vaccinating senior citizensrdquo She adds ldquoWhile a list of guidelines is yet to be curated the plan to vaccinate the masses would not be very different from what we have right now ie setting up vaccination centres at BMC hospitals and a cluster of private hospitals were included in the programmerdquoldquoRight now we have around 77 centres vaccinating senior citizens In the future when the demand rises we will add more centres and more resources to carry out vaccinationrdquo she addsldquoWe are utilising our resources to the fullest for example the JUMBO facilities are working on max capacity and several private hospitals are working 247 to ensure the programme is executed smoothly Similarly when the guidelines to vaccinate the masses are formed we will remain prepared It will be a big challenge but we will navigate through it like we have done so farrdquo