Rajasthan: 17 deaths in 25 days in Pali village send residents into a tizzy

JAIPUR: A village in Pali district witnessed 17 deaths in the last 25 days out of which one person was Covid-infected while the remaining deceased were not tested for coronavirus prior to their deaths, following which the district administration has gotten in action and samples of 129 residents of Dhabar village were collected on Thursday.
Villagers claimed that every second household has a person who is suffering from cold, cough or fever and the16 deaths were sudden following a brief illness of just couple of days.
Ladu Singh, who runs a school in Dhabar, told TOI, “There is a bit of carelessness on part of the administration as well as some resistance for testing by the locals. The deaths of the16 persons remain a mystery to us as they were mostly healthy and died suddenly after being ill for a couple of days. Out of the17, one person who died was admitted in hospital because of which we came to know that he was infected.”
There around 4,000 residents in the village, which is approximately 20km from the district headquarters. Dhabar sarpanch Sayar Mal said, “Earlier, no one was being tested, but after the numerous deaths, we set up a camp and also got the entire village vaccinated. Previously, we did not feel that there was any need for Covid testing, but now we do not want to take any chance. However, the 16 persons who died might have had some other ailments as well.”
Meanwhile, the district administration, on getting information about the deaths, is monitoring the situation. Collector Ansh Deep said, “The samples were taken on Thursday and we are expecting the reports by Friday. Depending on the number of Covid positive cases, if any, we will take further measures like testing the persons who have come in contact with the Covid positive patient. If the testing shows high number of positive cases, then we will find the super spreaders as well. While we are conducting door-to-door surveys to find people who have even mild symptoms, at times people do not go for tests fearing society, but we are taking all steps to ensure that everyone has access to health facilities.” The villagers, however, also claimed that another deterrent in going for a test is the distance from the village to an adequately equipped medical facility which is in Pali.