4 days off in 18 months, Mysuru doctor works tirelessly

MYSURU: Taluk health officer, HD Kote taluk, Mysuru district, has been working even on Sundays and other holidays to curb the spread of the virus in his taluk which has a huge tribal population. The taluk shares borders with Kerala and officials fear the infection could spread from the neighbouring state.
HD Kote Taluk Health Officer (THO) Dr Ravi Kumar T has taken just four days of leave since January 2020. The 48-year-old, who hails from Saragur in HD Kote, has been a staffer in the health department for the past 18 years, six of which have been spent in HD Kote.
“Bavali checkpost on the Kerala border is a major worry and we need to always stay alert,” Dr Kumar said. “We began screening passengers arriving from Kerala in December 2020 itself,” he recalls the early days of Covid 19 outbreak.
From spreading awareness and manning checkposts, to convincing people to take Covid-19 vaccines, Dr Kumar is multitasking all the time. “I begin duty early in the morning and continue beyond 9pm every day,” he said “Since Saragur is my hometown, I can work without rest,” he said.
On Tuesday too, Dr Kumar and a psychiatrist, visited a hamlet in Mastigudi to treat a local. “The man gets very violent. Since his family members refused to take him to Mysuru to get checked, we arranged for a psychiatrist from the DHO office in Mysuru to visit him. He was very combative, but we managed to give him some medicine. It is the first such case I have found among tribal communities,” he said.