Contact tracing in Lucknow is alarmingly late, risk rises

Vivek Singh Chauhan | TNN | Updated: Aug 17, 2020, 10:45 IST

An apartment being sanitized in Gomtinagar Extension (file photo)

LUCKNOW: Naresh Chandra Tiwari (62) tested Covid-19 positive on Thursday and succumbed to the infection two days after on Saturday. Ideally, his contacts should have been traced for testing within 24 hours after he was diagnosed with the disease. However, even after three days – till Sunday afternoon – family members were waiting for a call from authorities for sampling.
It is not the lone example of authorities not being able to keep pace of contact tracing and testing with the high number of cases reported daily. Several families of the Covid-19 patients, who were diagnosed with the infection on August 13, when contacted by phone, said that even after three days, nobody from the health department has contacted them for contact tracing or testing.

Times View

It's an extraordinary situation which requires extraordinary effort with little scope of laxity. The first 16 days of August have recorded more Covid-19 cases and deaths than the five months preceding it since the outbreak in March. People are blamed for negligence while adhering to safety protocol, but authorities too have been found to be lacking in contact tracing and creating containment zones . The delay in contact tracing and that too incomplete provides enough time to the host to transmit the virus to others. Authorities need to reach out and make people realise the seriousness of the situation. The two-pronged strategy should spread awareness while simultaneously acting tough on those not taking precautionary measures,while making the administrative machinery follow the drill. The plan laid out by the administration is good, but it needs to be implemented with equal seriousness.

There were also cases where authorities did contact families for sampling, but it was done on Sunday, two days after one of the family members tested positive. Further, only family members were tested, leaving out other close contacts such as friends, neighbours and colleagues.
“He (Naresh) got admitted in a private hospital after breathing difficulty on Thursday. After the test found him Covid-19 positive, he was shifted to a Covid facility where he died. However, no one has approached us so far to give instructions about home quarantine or sampling,” said Amit Tiwari, nephew of the deceased, a resident ofKailashpuri in Alambagh. “We are a joint family with 30 members living in a house and three elderlies have developed coughs, but have no clue what to do. No one in our neighbourhood has been tested either,” said Amit.
TOI gave Amit the helpline number of Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) constituted to monitor Covid-19 in the city. He then called at the centre and lodged a complaint following which he received an assurance that a team will be sent to his house soon.
Shakeena Khatoon, Dubagga, who tested positive on August 13, got a call from the administration the same day to inquire if she wants to be in home quarantined or hospitalised. She opted for home isolation. “Thereafter, authorities did not contact the family or close neighbours for sampling or to inform them about do’s and don’ts to be followed during quarantine,” said Zahid Ansari, Khatoon’s brother.
Bimla Gupta (72), resident of Faizabad Road, is undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at a private hospital after being diagnosed with infection on Thursday. Her daughterDarshika Gupta said, “Forget about neighbours, even we have not received any call from the health department so far regarding contact tracing, sampling or home isolation.”
Chief medical officer Dr Rajendra Prasad Singh, when contacted, said that the problem is due to delay in real time uploading of reports of positive cases by many private labs and a few government labs. “Now instructions have been given to upload reports within an hour after a person tests positive. This will enable ICCC to immediately dispatch a team to the patient’s house for contact tracing and sampling,” he added. “The teams will also deliver the drugs at the earliest. Action will be taken against those not following the orders,” he said.