Meghana Dolkar`s life isn`t the one she recognises. The 35-year-old community health volunteer (CHV) with B ward who kept a 9 am to 2 pm shift, going about the city`s lesser privileged neighbourhoods, is suddenly a 24/7 firefighter. Dolkar is part of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation`s (BMC) contact tracing team.

In March, when the civic body drew up a list of health workers who would join the programme that would help track down people who had come in contact with COVID-19 positive patients, Dolkar was happy to see her name featured. "I was an anomaly," she laughs. "Of course, it wasn`t a welcoming prospect to come in close contact with people, who have been exposed to a dangerous and easily transmissible virus, but it is a job and somebody has to do it." For the last 10 years, Dolkar has made the rounds of Bhendi Bazaar, Umerkhadi and Dongri, going door-to-door to provide guidance on polio, leprosy, tuberculosis and childcare. The questions are often scripted: "Have your children been vaccinated?", "Do you need information on family planning?", "Has the pregnant woman in the house had a checkup?"