‘We won’t issue uniform guidelines for RWAs’

TNN | Apr 25, 2020, 07:35 IST

Noida district magistrate Suhas LY has a 407-strong team on the ground, apart from a call centre to deal with complaints. He, however, feels that Noida’s geographical location is a challenge while dealing with Covid cases. He talks to TOI on how his team has managed to reduce the rate of cases. Excerpts
The rate of cases seems to be gradually reducing now. What has been Noida’s strategy in the past one month?
Early identification, contact tracing and quarantine have been the key to managing cases. Also, we have been taking multiple inputs from our teams on the ground, call centre and other sources. We try to identify contacts of a patient within six hours and quarantine them in the first 24 hours. We have different teams for cluster containment, sampling, testing, sanitisation and other work. Most importantly, we have a flat hierarchy of officials. So, the focus is on problem-solving rather than fault-finding.
Have we seen results from the strategy? Does the administration have an analysis of the results obtained?
The results can be seen from the reduction in cases and increasing recovery rate. We have a robust call centre and our ground survey team is now ‘team 407’. We change our strategy according to the dynamic factors we face every day. However, there are two major challenges. One is that the rise in cases is exponential and the recovery linear. The other is our geographical location, which adds to complications.
What is the plan in case the lockdown is extended? And how will we phase out reopening the city if it is removed?
It is too early to say anything on that.
What will be the role of private hospitals and healthcare centres that have not been dealing with Covid cases so far?
There are clear guidelines and protocols issued for all hospitals. So far, private hospitals have lent support in terms of manpower and resources. Hospitals have also been reserved for future help.
Several RWAs have their own set of rules for residents. The administration was supposed to issue guidelines. Has anything been done on that?
There will be no uniform set of guidelines for RWAs. In many areas, RWAs have developed good systems with consensus of all residents. In sectors where there are problems, we have local officers to interact with the RWA members.
With people working from home, there is a need for repair and servicing of phones, ACs and other gadgets. How is that being managed?
Some AOAs have electricians and other staff. However, we are trying to develop a system so that we can issue passes. We will approve some for every hotspot.