Residents of de-contained wards heave sigh of relief

Coimbatore: Twelve wards of the Mettupalayam municipality were removed from the list of containment zones on Thursday after completing 28 days without a new Covid-19 case. The last recorded case was on April 10.
Mettupalayam, which is considered the gateway to the Nilgiris and is the main market for vegetables coming from the hill station, was a village caught in fear in March, when 21 people who had a travel history to New Delhi, tested positive for the virus. “It was very scary to see the highest number of cases in the entire district coming from our municipality, which is also densely populated,” said S Basha, a resident of ward 15, which bordered two containment zones.
As fear began to spread, even residents outside the containment zones choose to remain indoors. “Even before masks were made compulsory, we began stepping out wearing masks. Despite this being the holy month of Ramzan, none of us visited each other’s homes or conducted get-together. Women did not cook together, because of the rules. All of us were afraid,” said another resident.
They heaved a sigh of relief after learning that all the 21 people had no symptoms, not even sore throat, and were recovering fast. “All the patients who tested positive were depressed. A man who was discharged learned that his wife tested positive, making them stay apart for 28 days,” said Basha. “But all of them made complete recovery and were discharged.”
Many residents queued up to click pictures and videos when the barricades were removed on Friday. “We had made a small opening on the barricade for sanitary workers to go in and clean the place and to collect garbage. To ensure that people didn’t run out of provisions, we stuck notices with phone numbers of people delivering eggs, meat, milk and vegetables,” said municipal commissioner S S Suresh.
“Since even two wheelers could not be allowed outside, we had to walk to visit ailing family members and to buy medicines,” said Basha.
On Saturday, barricades were lifted from Anamalai, Vilankurichi, Suleswaranpatti and a ward of Madukkarai. Another two areas remain in containment zone list — Maniakara Street and Ramdas Layout.