Battling COVID-19 On War Footing! How Agra’s Cluster Containment Strategy Emerged As Best Model

Coronavirus in India: Kudos to Agra Model! From early detection to curbing COVID-19 from spreading further, the Agra Model has emerged as the ‘Best Model’ for successfully tackling cluster containment. As the number of confirmed cases in India continue to rise, there is a need to come up with effective containment strategies, apart from the lockdown, to tackle COVID-19 and prevent it from further spreading. For this, the Centre on Saturday praised Agra’s containment model for its effectiveness and has also shared it with other states as a best model practice, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement on Saturday evening. An IE report stated that the model was discussed in the meeting which had been convened by the Cabinet Secretary with district magistrates recently, and was also discussed during a meeting held at the highest political level.

Coronavirus outbreak: How did Agra act against COVID-19?

According to the Union Ministry of Health’s statement, Agra was the first place in India where a cluster of coronavirus cases was detected. The city saw six cases, all of them linked to the man who was the first coronavirus case in Delhi.

The IE report, quoting a senior official linked to the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), stated that the airport tests confirmed the presence of coronavirus-affected patients in the city at around 2 am, and the team of officials immediately got into action. The area within a 3-km radius of the affected house was sealed in order to contain the virus in the area itself. Then, 259 teams, consisting of two members each, were formed and scouted over 1.6 lakh houses in the next few days. Around 1,000 samples were collected and the authorities transformed S N Medical College in the city to function as the base camp. Moreover, a security guard was taken on board to supply the necessities to the families in the sealed area, the report added.

The IE report further said that each of the 259 teams visited around 100 houses a day, while doctors were available at nearby dispensaries to provide consultation to those who showed symptoms.

The statement by the Union Ministry of Health states that to manage the cluster in Agra, the state administration, district administration and the frontline workers came together and doubled the existing Smart City Integrated with Command and Control Centre (ICCC) to be used as “war zones”. The district administration got to work, identifying epicentres, marking on the map the impact of the confirmed cases and deploying a special task force. An active survey and containment plan helped the administration in managing the hotspots in the city.

The ministry further stated that the administration identified the area within 3 km of the epicentre and a further buffer zone of 5 km was marked as the containment zone. Within the containment zones, 1,248 teams of two healthcare workers each were deployed with the cooperation of Urban Primary Health centres, and 9.3 lakh people were contacted via household screening.

Moreover, the administration undertook effective tracking of the first contact tracing. The administration also focused on setting up facilities for isolation, treatment and testing using the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) investment model.

The statement further said that the supply of food and essential items for those in need was also ensured, with doorstep delivery and e-pass facility for movement of essential goods in place. Amid all of this, the district administration also laid ample emphasis on awareness and engagement of the people, and established central helplines to reach out to the citizens and teams for coordinating the responses were set up. Notably, the administration left nothing to chance. All efforts were taken to ensure that communication flows seamlessly and food supplies also reach the needy.-Financial Express