When someone living in an apartment complex or a gated community tests positive for COVID-19, an immediate concern is to curb the infection from spreading to the other family members. A vacant apartment or a house within the complex can serve as an isolation centre. In July 2020, the Ministry of Health of Government of India had issued guidelines for gated communities that wish to set up isolation facilities for mild cases of COVID-19.
In Hyderabad, this trend has caught on, in the wake of the spurt in cases during the second wave.
A vacant four-bedroom villa in Rolling Hills, Gachibowli, serves as an isolation facility for anyone within the 100-villa gated community testing COVID-19 positive with mild symptoms. The clubhouse at Aparna Hillpark Gardenia, Chandanagar, has been converted into an intermittent isolation care centre.
The resident welfare associations have drawn up checklists — rooms with ample cross ventilation and bathrooms, a refrigerator, frequent sanitisation, essentials such as thermometer, pulse oximeter, glucometer, gloves, masks, PPE kits, IV cannulas, IV fluids, portable ECG machine and a nebuliser. There’s a standby oxygen cylinder or concentrator in these facilities. Resident volunteers provide food for those who are isolated.
Doctors living in the vicinity help by offering tele-consultations and monitor the patients from time to time.
Architect and water conservation advocate Kalpana Ramesh mooted the initiative in Rolling Hills, turning the vacant house owned by her family into an isolation centre: “Resident welfare associations in the city are doing the best they can in terms of safety protocols and helping families in need. This could be an additional measure to curb the spread of infection within families and to reduce the load on hospitals. Patients are also likely to feel more comfortable to isolate within the neighbourhood than in a hospital,” she reasons.
The facility is available for those with mild symptoms. If required, their plan is to shift patients to Project Aashray’s 50-bed Early Stage COVID-19 Care and Isolation Facility in Cyberabad or to a hospital.
Speaking on behalf of Gardenia, obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Vinatha Puli avers that an isolation facility is the need of the hour:
“A few other neighbouring communities had begun establishing similar facilities and we felt it was essential too. When the idea was mooted, it was met with enthusiasm. There are 10 doctors within the gated community; other resident volunteers have been eager to help by providing food and other help required.”
With the clubhouse remaining out of bounds during the second wave, it was feasible for one of the well-ventilated rooms to be turned into an interim isolation bedroom; the spa’s changing room and washroom were an added bonus.
According to the guidelines issued by MoH, these isolation facilities are not meant for the elderly, young children or pregnant/lactating mothers.
At the isolation centre, contact numbers of doctors and ambulance service providers need to be displayed prominently.
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