In the wake of a notification by the State government, Dakshina Kannada district administration has initiated steps to set up booth/ward-level committees for tracing, tracking and testing those with COVID-19 symptoms and also attending to the needs of vulnerable people in the community.
The initiative will be launched on Monday in the limits of the Ullal City Municipal Council (CMC) which is among those places where a number of COVID-19 positive cases has been reported.
Subsequently, it will be taken up in six wards in the Mangaluru City Corporation limits and also areas in Puttur City Municipal Council and Bantwal Town Municipal Council limits.
The government on July 9 notified setting up of ward-level and booth-level committees to involve people in effectively tackling COVID-19 and other viral diseases at the grassroots level.
Additional Deputy Commissioner M.J. Roopa said that each booth-level committee will consist of four representatives from the respective area, an Accredited Social Health Activist, an anganwadi worker and a police beat constable.
The booth-level team will, wearing gloves and face masks, visit identified areas to check the body temperature of residents and also to note down their oxygen levels. It will refer those with symptoms to the nearest fever clinic. The team will identify young children and senior citizens who are vulnerable to infection and arrange for necessary treatment for those among them found sick. In addition, it will keep track of those in home isolation who are now being monitored by the district administration.
“As many as 300 persons have volunteered to be part of such committees in Ullal. They will undergo training on Monday and start work the same evening,” Ms. Roopa said and added that Ullal with 174 positive cases was among those places in the district that have reported a number of cases.
A similar exercise will be carried out in Ward Nos 30, 40, 41, 45, 47 and 57 in the Mangaluru City Corporation limits and in wards of Bantwal Town Municipal Council and Puttur City Municipal Council limits.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B. Rupesh said: “The booth-level committees will strengthen our efforts in reaching out to the needy.”
Ms. Rupesh said that staff from all government departments have been roped in to keep a watch on those in home isolation, which number has been increasing every day. Teachers and block-level officers are involved in door-to-door survey. “Standard operating procedures laid down by the State government are being stringently followed,” she said.