NGO screens 20,000 in slums despite doctor, workers testing positive

Three batches of healthcare workers from Niramay Seva Foundation are assisting the BMC in Andheri West and Versova

Private doctors and volunteers from an NGO are continuing to help the BMC in screening slum-dwellers despite six healthcare workers testing positive for Covid-19. Working in Andheri West and Versova, one doctor and five of his support staff tested positive early last week. However, the second and third batches of workers from the Niramay Seva Foundation have been working undeterred. In over two weeks, they have collectively screened nearly 20,000 residents of Nehru Nagar, Ruia Park and Anand Nagar.

Affiliated to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the foundation was part of the local NGOs enlisted to help the civic body screen slum pockets for Covid-19. The urgency was overriding, considering monsoon will hit the city next month.

Nehru Nagar in K-West ward is one of the most populated in the city, with more than 35,000 residents. Almost all slum-dwellers use community toilets and physical distancing is not possible. The entire ward has more than 1,500 coronavirus cases.

Vikas Deshmkuh, a representative of the foundation, said the team has made considerable progress. “One of the nine doctors and five of the 23 volunteers from the first batch got infected. But the other batches have stepped in and made a lot of progress. Even those who have tested positive want to resume the work as soon as possible,” he said.

He said each batch works for five days and is then quarantined for the next five. “Volunteers are tested on the seventh day and can resume work if they test negative. Currently, the third batch is screening the residents as the second one is in quarantine,” Deshmukh said.

Deshmukh said many doctors and volunteers are swayam sevak and are trained to work long hours. Citing a lack of fear, he said they joined the fight accepting that they might get infected and it has not dented their confidence. “We are taking all precautions and everyone has personal protective gear. We are already in the process of lining up the fourth batch to screen the entire population in the area before the monsoon,” Deshmukh said

BJP legislator Ameet Satam, who suggested roping in the foundation, said the doctors are working free of cost. Satam said, “The third batch has been deployed in the slums as the second batch is in quarantine, after which it will be tested. We are also giving the doctors additional help. The RSS has given us a lot of support in this screening work.”

RSS’s general secretary of the city, Sanjay Nagarkar said some of the volunteers are final-year MBBS students. “There are around eight to 10 doctors in each batch and there are some female doctors to.” He said every doctor leads a group of three to four people. Every micro-team uses infrared thermometers and pulse oximeters to screen the residents. “The BMC has provided us PPE kits and even given accommodation to doctors,” Nagarkar said.

A senior civic official said that screening the residents is the first and the most crucial step towards identifying people who could be infected. He said it’s a tedious process to ask people to come in small batches, make them wait at a safe distance from each other and see if they have fever or depleted oxygen. “These two are the key to locating symptomatic patients. Isolating and treating them can immediately cut down the risk of further spread of coronavirus,” he said, adding that the NGO doctors are fighting a long battle and even BMC doctors are working with the team. “It’s a huge challenge as thousands more need to be screened before it starts raining.”