West Bengal: Protocol shift in Salt Lake to fight against coronavirus

KOLKATA: In a major policy shift in its fight against coronavirus, the authorities in the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation area are no longer blocking a lane or a locality and declaring it a containment zone. Neither are the

affected houses

being barricaded or fenced off. Instead, patients and their family members are being asked to remain in home quarantine and be in touch with the civic authorities or police so that a patient can be hospitalized if his/her condition deteriorates.


Recently, an elderly resident of AE Block was hospitalized after developing Covid symptoms. “We informed the civic authorities and police about it and learned that houses are no more being cordoned off. The family members were asked to stay in home isolation. From the block association, we sanitized the house and its

adjacent premises

,” said AE Part-II (Samaj Kalyan Sangha) block committee secretary Tapas Sengupta.

Most residents of

Salt Lake

said Covid-affected families should strictly remain in home quarantine for at least 14 days. “There is no more need to fence off a house or building from where Covid cases are being reported, but it should be seen that the premises are properly sanitized and the Covid-affected family members properly follow the home quarantine rules,” said Sandip Sarkar, a resident of AD Block. “Self-isolation may work in Salt Lake as residents here are aware of the

overall situation

. The local civic authorities should properly monitor the home-quarantined people to avoid any community spreading,” added Tamal Pal, a resident of HB Block.

According to Bidhannagar mayor Krishna Chakraborty, people now are more aware of the situation and are taking all necessary measures by themselves. “We are asking a family to remain safe in home quarantine if anybody from the family is found to be Covid-19 positive. We from the civic body are constantly keeping in touch with the families and reaching out to them with all help,” Chakraborty said.

As per latest figures available with the civic authorities, Covid figures in the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation area has now crossed 300 with cases being reported from pockets of Baguiati, Tegharia and some places in Salt Lake under the jurisdiction of Bidhannagar North and Bidhannagar South police stations.

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