Maha: How Sarpanch, local administration kept Covid-19 at bay in 3 villages

With 14 123 fresh Covid19 cases on June 1 Maharashtra saw the lowestsingle day rise since March 10 Though the state reported 15169 cases on June 2 the rural areas have played an important role in keeping the infection in check as the rural bodies took the challenge headonIn fact to encourage public participation in villages the Maharashtra government announced a lsquoCovidfree villagersquo contest Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif on Wednesday announced the contest with fat cash prizes to be implemented across the state soonIf the villages become free from the coronavirus then the talukas districts regions and the entire state will be rid of the scourge as soon as possible with the participation of the common people he saidTo understand how the rural bodies in Maharashtra are tackling the pandemic midday online reached out to sarpanch and police patil of Govitri gram panchayat who have managed to keep the number of coronavirus cases surprisingly low through both the waves of the pandemicGovitri government hospitalPolice patil Navnath Jambhulkar and sarpanch Sangeeta Mohol have been working relentlessly with their teammembers to keep the big C at bay from Kolwadi Valvanti and Vadauli villages of Govitri gram panchayat in Punersquos Mawal TalukaAlso ReadMaharashtras youngest sarpanch keeps his village Covid19 freeWith a combined population of approximately 800 these 3 villages had seen only 7 cases when the second wave of the pandemic hit Mohol told However in April the cases rose to 11 According to Jambhulkar Mumbaikars and Punekars have farmhouses around the villages where they pay recreational visits from timetotimeldquoWe were managing the pandemic very efficiently right from 2020 However during the second wave when cities like Mumbai and Pune saw a massive rise in cases our villages got exposed as citydwellers started coming and living here as an escaperdquo Jambhulkar revealedAt this stage he decided to involve all stakeholders and create awareness about fighting coronavirus A 5member committee including ASHA workers and aarogya workers was formed which started testing and isolating all incomersldquoOur aarogya workers would test everyone coming to the villages and isolate them in their respective homes The ones who tested positive would either be quarantined in their homes or admitted to the government hospital in Kamshetrdquo said MoholldquoIn April the number of cases rose and this triggered panic Many villagers would not allow Covid19 positive patients to be quarantined in their neighbourhood Selecting bigger and secluded homes to quarantine patients was indeed a taskrdquo Jambhulkar addedWhile some patients recovered at home with the help of medicines procured from the local gopekendra some had to be admitted to Kamshet government hospitalNot only have the committee members facilitated testing and treatment in the villages they have also campaigned to spread awareness about the importance of social distancing and selfquarantineAs a result the 3 villages have not reported a single fresh case in the last 15 days and have only 2 active cases as of now who are set to be out of quarantine in a few daysHowever both sarpanch and patil are concerned about the vaccine hesitancy among the villagers Misinformation has found its way to the villages and a big chunk of the population is not ready to get inoculatedWhile the committee is trying their best to educate the villagers Jambhulkar says ldquoItrsquos time the government gets directly involved and starts campaigning because without vaccination there is a chance of the infection spreading againrdquoAlso sarpach Mohol seemed concerned about the lack of smartphones and internet connection in the villages due to which many students are missing their online classes and are worried about exams and promotionWhen asked about the most important thing that can keep the infection in check Mohol said ldquoPeople have to stop venturing out as far as practicable until they get fully vaccinatedrdquo