Relief personnel working hard to contain Covid-19

Archi Rani | TNN | Updated: May 5, 2020, 12:16 IST

Health workers wearing Personal Protective Equipment at Danapur Junction on Monday

PATNA: From providing relief material to decontaminating areas where Covid-19 positive cases have been reported as well as creating awareness among people, hundreds of personnel from NDRF, SDRF and NCC cadets are working round-the-clock to help people in containment areas and other hotspots in the state.
NDRF Commandant Vijay Sinha said, “NDRF rescue teams have been deployed across the state, including in Gaya, Siwan, Nalanda, Sasaram and Munger. They are doing sanitization using high pressure machines in all containment areas. They have been educating and creating awareness among people since the beginning.”
He added that teams have also been deployed in several areas, including in Munger and Begusarai, for ferrying suspected coronavirus cases to the hospitals.
Ajit Kumar Singh, assistant commandant of 9th Battalion NDRF, who has been working at the Bihar state emergency operation centre, said, “Two teams each with NDRF personnel have been positioned in the nine districts to carry out rescue and relief operations. Besides, we have been training NCC cadets, police personnel and Quick Medical Response Team (QMRT) who are working round-the-clock for welfare of society,” Singh said.
SDRF teams have been deployed in at least 14 districts. Of these, three cities and districts, including Patna, Ara and Begusarai, have been categorised as red zone and the remaining like Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Purnia and Bhagalpur among others have been categorised as orange zone. SDRF’s Krishna Kumar Jha said the teams were trained in February in order to carry out operations related to Covid-19. “Be it decontaminating the Covid-19 affected areas, handling patients or preparing chemical solution for sanitization, SDRF teams have been doing all possible operations in order to provide help to people,” he added.
SDRF inspector Deepak Jha, who has been deployed at a containment zone in Begusarai, said, “Even after wearing PPE gear, I make sure I don’t come in contact while sanitizing the red zone areas. Covid-19 is an unprecedented pandemic for the country and people who are working for others need to look after their safety too,” he said.
Several NCC cadets have been providing food to people and stray animals in the containment areas. Monu Ranjan, a former NCC cadet, said, “The cadets have been providing help to homeless people and stray animals in containment areas in the city, including Khajpura in Patna.”