Bhilwara Model

In Bhilwara, Rajasthan the first case was reported on March 18 and within 3 days it had become a hotspot with 10 cases. A doctor with a private practice who used to see thousands of patients had tested positive for COVID-19 on March 20 and hence the administration did not waste any time and did ruthless containment. Mr Rajendra Bhatt the district magistrate of Bhilwara said,

“The situation was very delicate, it was absolutely imperative that we do ruthless containment else the disease could have spread very quickly in our district. We did not want that at any cost.”, reported Economic Times. 

Rajasthan sealed its borders and all the hotspots within the Bhilwara district were further completely quarantined. The administration supplied the essentials, imposed a strict curfew and simultaneously worked on both treatment and prevention. All the inpatient and outpatient departments’ (IPD, OPD) patients and the patients seen at the clinic by the infected doctor, in the Bhangar hospital, were surveyed and quarantined. The district administration acquired over 42 hospitals and 10 hotels to create a quarantine facility with a capacity of 1551 beds. Measures were also taken to ensure that, should the need arise, another 10,000-15,000 beds could be easily arranged. Over 22 lakh people were screened in this district. Some of them were screened more than once. With all these efforts, Bhilwara, which had previously reported 27 cases, has not reported a single new positive case since April 3. 

Kasargod Model

Kasargod, Kerala emerged as India’s biggest hotspot on March 25. The problem that the administration faced was the lack of cooperation of the residents, with the government and civic authorities. There were reports of a resident who had travelled to the Middle east many times in the last 100 days, having exposed at least 1500 people by not quarantining himself. IG Vijay Sakhare had to issue orders saying all those defying the lockdown orders would be caned. Speaking to News 18 Mr Sajith Kumar, the district collector, said, “ As locals were not cooperating, we had to issue orders to impound passports and to even seal intervillage transport.” Thus the administration successfully sealed off the hotspot completely. 

All the essentials such as medicines, groceries, fruits and vegetables were supplied by the police. Other than this many services are being provided by the police. During this time residents were allowed to consult doctors through video consultation. Thousands of residents who travelled abroad and their primary contacts were put under self-quarantine and surveillance. Drones are being used to monitor the surveillance in order to avoid anybody violating the lockdown and quarantine. Here also the state and district administration acquired hospitals and medical supplies were brought from Thiruvananthapuram to set up a quarantine facility in Kasargod itself. Random testing for community spread has begun and so far all 100 samples have tested negative, indicating that there is no community spread so far. The results are there for all to see, as the curve in Kasargod has clearly started to flatten out.

Unlike the Prime Minister’s address on 23rd March 2020, when Prime Minister Modi said, “Jaan hai to Jahaan hai”  (if life is there world will be there), on April 14 th address to the nation. He also said  “Jaan Bhi Jahaan Bhi (meaning life also world also)” will be taken care of during the extended lockdown i.e till May 3rd.

The affected districts are classified as Red, Orange and Green zones. The red zones are to be completely sealed while the safe zones i.e., green zones would have partial relaxation. In big metros such as Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore etc., we might have multiple zones and thus we might see partial relaxation in some areas within the city. Economic Times has reported today that in green zones we will be able to see increased economic activity. Apart from industries in SEZ and Agri related services and sub-services, MNREGA and other self-employed service providers such as carpenters, plumbers etc.,  are to be allowed as well. You can see detailed guidelines here. This has been implemented in parts in Hyderabad and Delhi and is yielding good results, reported by NDTV. This is very close to the Bhilwara model.

Such a national lockdown model based on Bhilwara and Kasargod model is essential. This would ensure that we are able to carry on some essential economic activity, try to have a semblance of a normal life while trying to tide over the COVID-19 crisis.