With no cases till now, Rajkot village shows how to keep corona at bay

Rajkot: While the rest of Gujarat is reeling under the onslaught of second wave of Covid, a village, located just 40kms from Rajkot, has managed to keep the dreaded virus at bay. Whereas the neighbouring city of Rajkot has 39,000 registered Covid cases, Gundala hasn’t seen a single positive case till date.
Ever since the first Covid-19 case was registered in the state in March 2020, the residents of Gundala — numbering around 1,000 — have not let their guard down. Strict adherence to Covid guidelines, no entry to outsiders without a negative Covid report, close monitoring and a society that cares for all its members have combined to make Gundala ‘a model village’ .
The District Development Office is encouraging other villages to follow the ‘Gundala model’. “We congratulate Gundala villagers and sarpanch for their efforts to keep away Covid infection. We are promoting this Gundala as a model village and guiding other villages to follow this model,” said A R Ranavasia, district development officer of Rajkot.
Jilubhai Gamara, sarpanch of Gundala, informed that all the Covid guidelines are strictly followed by the villagers. “Our village hasn’t reported a single positive case till now. Villagers have been strictly warned against unnecessarily coming out of their homes and crowding at grocery stores or other shops,” Gamara informed.
Apart from strict implementation of guidelines, the village also takes care of all its residents. Many among the villagers don’t have farmland and they work as labourers in nearby industries. However, when the industries are closed due to the lockdown the gram panchayat provides them with 50% of their daily wage. The unemployed labourers are also provided with free vegetables and groceries.
If anyone falls ill the village sarpanch and the gram panchayat wastes no time in coordinating with nearby hospitals and arranging ambulances. The district health team examines the patients if anybody complains of cold, cough or fever.
Though Gundala hasn’t reported a positive case till now, the villagers have set up a basic Covid Care Centre at the local Primary School as a precautionary measure. The health department too has helped in setting up of the Covid Care Centre.