In Surat’s corona battle, community isolation centres turned lifesavers

SURAT: Contribution of the community isolation centres (CIC) in the war against coronavirus will remain etched in gold in pandemic history. Even though it took off late in this year’s killer second wave, CICs fought the pandemic, as valiantly as it had even in the previous year,while helping government and private facilities stall the spread of the virus.
These centres were literally, life saviours for the virus-battered Diamond City. According to data compiled by Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), total 26 big CICs handled over 2,400 Covid patients in the past one month, of which 1,665 were discharged after recovery.
Looking at the surge in cases, number of beds started to increase in these centres gradually while various communities and welfare groups came forward to set up their own CICs. At present, CICs in the city have 1,500 beds, of which 556 are with oxygen support. Total 266 oxygen support beds are occupied currently.
According to senior government officials, CIC is a unique model of Surat that helped strengthen the health infrastructure and improve its efficiency for patients in serious conditions. Apart from the big ones, nearly 500 more Covid patients were provided isolation facilities by smaller isolation centres having 20 or lesser number of beds.
“In the second wave CIC model is making wonders for testing and treatment. The CICs of Surat are a unique model,” said Banchhanidhi Pani, city municipal commissioner.
The Covid CICs in the city were not only isolating positive patients but are also conducting testing and providing support in vaccination as well. Majority of the centres have come up in either government buildings or halls of any particular community. These centres not only have beds but support of oxygen, doctors, nursing and care taking staff as well. These centres provide food for the patient and their relatives as well.
“The new variant is highly infectious and CICs help in isolating the patient. Isolation in the lap of community and care by community health care workers and community made delicacies makes these centres more attractive than individual isolation,” Pani added.
Further these centre as are geographically close to the residence of the patient and this adds to the comfort of patient and family. Compared to individual isolation this does not add to anxiety and stress, experts believe.
“At CIC we are providing better care compared to hospitals. The patient feels at home, can interact with family members and other patients. Some of the best city doctors are providing volunteer service at our centre,” said Velji Sheta, president of Samast Patidar Samaj. SPS is running a 52-bed CIC at Katargam.