SPREAD OF COVID 19 IN RURAL AREAS OF INDIA- A SERIOUS CONCERN

 

As thick steel plates of the Titanic were ripped apart by the fangs of an iceberg, similarly the total health infrastructure of our country appears to have collapsed like a pack of cards. Dearth of oxygen, ventilators, beds, medicines and vaccines has filled hopelessness in the hearts of everyone. The situation becomes grimmer when we see hoarding and black-marketing of oxygen cylinders, concentrators and essential lifesaving medicines like Remdisiver.

By and large the spread of Covid-19 remained confined to the cities during its first wave. But during the second wave which hit us almost like a Tsunami, we see it inching towards its peak in Mid May 2021-its spread to the villages is also being reported. In some villages scores of deaths have also been reported in a couple of days. This is a serious concern for one and all.

I am extremely worried about my 70% countrymen who reside in villages. These simple people very easily fall prey to the rituals and local prescriptions (desi nuskas) which are abundantly available on social media these days. For instance-pour a few drops of lemon juice in your nostrils to kill corona virus or take a medium sized red onion and eat it the way we cut and eat the slices of an apple and then do not drink water for half an hour. The images of scores of women who left their houses with small brass pots filled with water and with neem leaves in their hands in Mahrajganj district of UP had an unwavering belief that the offering of water from their pots to the setting sun will mitigate corona impact in their village. Similarly, thousands of women participated in a Kalsh Yatra in Ahamadabad with the belief that the offering of water from their pots to a temple will shoo the virus away. I am sure majority of them may not be even knowing what a virus is.

Ironically majority of the people in the remote areas still believe that Covid-19 is just a rumour. Hence there is a dire need that something prompt should be done to educate people living in the villages. I would like to suggest the following:

1.    Each Panchayat needs to come forward to educate villagers. They may identify the educated volunteers who would run a door to door campaign to educate people about the prevailing pandemic.

2.    Such volunteers may highlight the importance of wearing masks, maintaining social distance and regularly washing of hands with soap.

3.    Villagers need to be educated not to visit each other during pandemic until and unless it is extremely urgent. No member of the family including children should move out of homes. I have made phone calls to all my dear and near ones not to visit me nowadays. And I also do not visit anyone.

4.    They are to be educated about the symptoms of this infection and to immediately isolate themselves from their families so that the infection does not spread further.

5.    I know it will not be possible for every home to have an oximeter. It has become very expensive. From my experience of getting infected in September 2020, I can say one thing i.e if you find difficulty in holding your breath for some time let’s say for even 5-6 seconds, it means you need immediate consultation of a qualified doctor as it indicates that your oxygen saturation is falling.

6.    They need to be educated of doing saline water gargles and inhaling of steam for 2-3 times a day. Eating hot meals and having hot drinks like tea, coffee, milk etc. will always help. These things don’t cost anything but benefit a lot. Let’s make a habit to always drink hot water.

7.    Our leaders, public figures and qualified doctors must educate villagers through various programmes on Doordarshan and AIR in all regional languages.

8.    It will be better if all social and religious functions where people gather en masse are postponed.

9.    The volunteers must educate the people to come forward for vaccination.

10.  The existing rural health infrastructure is extremely inadequate. All out efforts of the administration need to be put in to equip all Primary Health Centers in the rural areas with the basic infrastructure and medicines. We need to be proactive in this area.

I am worried if Corona spreads to the rural areas the way it has done to cities-the situation might go out of hands. So it becomes the duty of all of us to reach to the villagers through phones calls/social media/personal visits, if possible, to educate them about the prevailing pandemic.