Thank you Corona Warriors

Covid19 pandemic brought many changes in everyone’s life and day to day activities. There were many who walked that extra mile to help less privileged, people in need and performed their duties diligently without fearing of the high risk they could have caught due to Corona. Renuka Suryavanshi spoke to few Covid Warriors from the neighbourhood on how they are tackling the tough situation.

Pradeep Raut, sanitary inspector, Wanawadi Ramtekdi ward office shares, “I have been on the duty since day of the lockdown. Initially I was on the duty of identifying the passengers who had travelled from abroad, so stamping them with home quarantine stamps, then contact tracing, further assisting patients for swab collection, sending them to quarantine centers, etc. I have myself stamped about 450 citizens for home quarantine. Things have changed drastically since last three months now. The magnitude of work has also broadened. But despite the deaths occuring due to Corona, I feel sad that people do not follow social distancing, wear masks. I have myself fined many people for not wearing masks and also few shopkeepers for not adhering to the rules of social distancing. As an individual, I have been taking vitamin c tablets and following the health care guidelines issued by the government and ayurvedic doctors. Increasing our immunity is the only way to keep corona at bay. Also wearing masks, washing hands frequently and avoiding social gatherings must be followed.”

Abhijit Shivajirao Ghoman, a Vikas Nagar resident and Seva Pramukh, Parvati, Pune Mahanagar Swayamsevak Sangh. He has been relentlessly serving people by providing them with ration kits, jobs, medical check up and also educating people about health and hygiene.
In the first phase of lockdown Abhijit and his teammates compiled a list of people who needed ration kits. Coupons were made of ration that would suffice for 15 days and these residents were asked to show the coupon at grocery stores and collect their kits. After that we conducted house to house survey and held medical camps and referred patients to PMC hospitals for further diagnosis. In the third phase we are also educating people about health hygiene and awareness on how to stay away from CORONA. We have also identified companies looking for employees and candidates who lost their jobs and placing them at the companies in need of them. Our work is endless and we all know that being a helping hand can only cheer people in such tough period. All our members have been working day and night to help each needy.

Ever since lockdown was announced everything was shut. I am a solicitor and Courts and our consulting services also stopped too. In the initial phase, there was huge gap of sanitisers and also the jetting machines which were used were not capable of reaching out to maximum distance. I bought a machine which has a range of 12 Meters and even more effective sanitising solution was used to sanitise many areas. I alongwith my team took up the work of sanitising Kondhwa and Chinchwad Police stations, government offices such as Photo zinco, vehicles used by Police and distributed over 20,000 sanitiser bottles were distributed. I observed that there were many emergency frontline workers were at more risk as they were the only ones working even when everything was closed. Hence taking adequate care of them was on my priority. I feel we need to develop strong immunity and not ostracize people who have suffered it. With adequate precautions and health care we can keep Corona at bay. This work was supported by my colleagues Taha Ganijee and Adv Pooja Thakur.

Dr Shaheen Khan, a resident of Sunshree Woods, who has worked with Doctor at Your doorstep initiative of Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana (BJS) and in ZVM Unani Medical College and Hospital, Azam Campus, she shares, “I have recently started working by Online Counselling and Consulting. One of the most popular platforms that have come to light recently in medical world. I try many things to keep myself happy and energetic. I take deep breaths (long and slow breaths helps me to get rid of all negative thoughts). I eat healthy (vegetables, fruits, nuts and drink lots of water, almost 6-7litres of water in a day).
I love reading and currently I am reading “Open Heart” a book on how doctors get cases and how they tackle in emergency. I have also sought help of aromatherapy it is a nice way to destress and to relax and makes you calm after a tiring day.

According to him, education about health hygiene is very important in view of Covid19 particularly. Stressing on creating awareness among patients about health hygiene he shares, “I consulted many patients, conducted many surgeries. But my first point is to educate the patient about COVID19, asking them to follow the guidelines issued by the government which are easy, mandatory and can keep us away from infection. But one must also not forget that we must avoid going in public gatherings and seek help of medical professionals incase of any symptoms. This is the most important step as it helps in diagnosing the problem, treating it well in time and also further spreading it. I have conducted several surgeries too in this period so people should not think that approaching doctors in this period should be avoided. Any medical emergency should be reported to your doctor. In my opinion, I kept myself positive by eating healthy food, exercising and staying positive. This keeps our mental health strong. I have been using PPE kits, sanitising my clinic regularly and using masks too.”

She has been relentlessly working towards treating Corona Virus patients since day one. She says, “The whole dynamics of consulting patients has changed. Even today we have to educate the patients about the virus, precautions that are mandatory and finally the treatment. Since day one we have been strictly following all the guidelines issued by the health department of the government as well as PMC. I urge that people should strictly wear masks, wash their hands on regular intervals and stay at home and eat healthy food. Another important aspect is to immediately seek medical help if you see any symptoms in you, your family members and others around you. Early diagnosis will ensure faster recovery. As a self care method, we also follow all protocols that we are asked to diligently. Be positive is what I would sum up.”

Dr Munaf Inamdar, an MD Medicine doctor, a resident of Hill Mist Garden shared, “People are still scared to treat Covid19. It is curable if it is diagnosed timely. We must not live in fear or stigma. Delay in treatment can take the patients into life threatening stages. Our approach towards handling patients are changed. Ensuring PPE kits are on, Sanitisers, masks, social distancing is what all doctors are following. Also, I worked for seven days in Sassoon hospital and I have seen the crisis first hand. I have seen that early diagnosis and timely check up can cure Corona completely. To keep myself physically and emotionally stable, I practice yoga and breathing exercises. I keep myself hydrated, positive and eat healthy food.”