KOLKATA: Bhowanipore’s wait to get out of the list of Kolkata’s containment zones is getting longer. From the first day in the first week of this month — and all through the past three weeks when the list was updated several times — some area or other of Bhowanipore remained there on the list. The latest addition is a complex located on Mohini Mohan Road.
The area now has as many as five containment zones, two of them on Sarat Bose Road bordering Ballygunge. Chakraberia Road, which figured thrice on the containment list, is, however, out of it now. A part of Elgin Road, too, is now a new containment zone. The two other containment zones lie close to Bhowanipore, one at Panditya Road and the other at Justice Chandra Madhab Road. Around 70 cops have been deployed in these zones and the KMC is deploying two teams each day for swab collection in and around this area.
Though enforcement of strict lockdowns has helped the civic body combat the virus in Bhowanipore, it has also posed a challenge for cops and KMC officials to reach out to a section of elderly people, who find it difficult to go out and buy essentials, including life-saving drugs.
“Often we are approached by elderly people to help them by delivering the essentials. Sometimes we respond to to their need but in some cases we fail because of the manpower crunch,”said a KMC health department official.
Ward coordinator Ashim Bose said he has formed a quick response team to reach out to elderly people in times of serious medical emergencies. “I often get calls during odd hours at night from elderly citizens for medical help. I sometimes arrange for hospitalization of serious patients at government hospitals and nursing homes given the dearth of beds,” Bose said.
According to a KMC health department official, the root cause of a spurt in Covid cases, especially in Bhowanipore, lies in not following the Covid norms and taking advantage of Unlock-1.
Significantly, all fresh cases in Bhowanipore are being reported from high-rises, apartment buildings and stand-alone buildings. All the five containment zones are located in areas dotted with apartment buildings. The KMC health department officials have been asked to be extra vigilant in large areas of Bhowanipore, Sarat Bose Road and Hazra Road.
The area now has as many as five containment zones, two of them on Sarat Bose Road bordering Ballygunge. Chakraberia Road, which figured thrice on the containment list, is, however, out of it now. A part of Elgin Road, too, is now a new containment zone. The two other containment zones lie close to Bhowanipore, one at Panditya Road and the other at Justice Chandra Madhab Road. Around 70 cops have been deployed in these zones and the KMC is deploying two teams each day for swab collection in and around this area.
Though enforcement of strict lockdowns has helped the civic body combat the virus in Bhowanipore, it has also posed a challenge for cops and KMC officials to reach out to a section of elderly people, who find it difficult to go out and buy essentials, including life-saving drugs.
“Often we are approached by elderly people to help them by delivering the essentials. Sometimes we respond to to their need but in some cases we fail because of the manpower crunch,”said a KMC health department official.
Ward coordinator Ashim Bose said he has formed a quick response team to reach out to elderly people in times of serious medical emergencies. “I often get calls during odd hours at night from elderly citizens for medical help. I sometimes arrange for hospitalization of serious patients at government hospitals and nursing homes given the dearth of beds,” Bose said.
According to a KMC health department official, the root cause of a spurt in Covid cases, especially in Bhowanipore, lies in not following the Covid norms and taking advantage of Unlock-1.
Significantly, all fresh cases in Bhowanipore are being reported from high-rises, apartment buildings and stand-alone buildings. All the five containment zones are located in areas dotted with apartment buildings. The KMC health department officials have been asked to be extra vigilant in large areas of Bhowanipore, Sarat Bose Road and Hazra Road.
