Contrary to the perception in the Valley that life is at a standstill in the Budgam area of Kashmir where Section 144 is strictly adhered to, things are normal in this central Kashmir district. The coronavirus scare and the mandatory closure of schools haven바카라t affected daily life. Even after some of the many people who had gone to Iran and Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage returned to the district, Budgam has not witnessed a single COVID-19 positive case so far. Many believe that Budgam바카라s handling of COVID-19 suspects would determine the spread of coronavirus in the Valley. So far, the district바카라s record is irreproachable and it shows on the streets바카라there is an air of indifference, overloaded buses rush about, people throng hospitals and other medical centres freely, marketplaces are crowded.
This open disregard to the clear and present danger of coronavirus worries Muzaffer Ahmad, an epidemiologist. Working from his chamber in the Budgam Chief Medical Officer바카라s office, Dr. Ahmad has been tirelessly locÂating people who have come from China, Iran, and now Saudi Arabia, for the past two months. Such is his unfÂlagging energy that he visits every village, ferrets out people who have returned from the affected countries and asks them to go into isolation.
바카라We got information that some students have returned from China. According to norms we had to find and isolate them,바카라 says Ahmad. In a remote village of Budgam he found three students who had returned from a city near Wuhan바카라the epicentre of the outbreak in China. The students were surprised to see doctors knocking their doors. 바카라We told them to isolate themselves and asked them about their activities. Fortunately, they readily cooperated,바카라 he says.
Soon, the doctor and his team heard of seven students who had returned from China. 바카라I rushed to their houses. They, however, had been quarantined in Delhi and had no signs of any disease after that,바카라 he says.
Since February, Ahmad has tracked down over 150 persons who travelled to different affected countries. Most of them, he says, are in isolation. Out of the 150, four were tested after they complained of cough and fever; those tests are negative. On March 16, an eldÂerly person who complained of breathlessness was refÂerred by Ahmad to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences for tests and quarantine. 바카라He had come from Saudi Arabia some time ago. We were tracking him,바카라 he says. Â
But a deliberate flouting of protocol at the epidemiologist바카라s office by people returning from abroad scares employees most. Without masks, or proper adherence to prescribed hygiene, they enter the room, sit around and breezily narrate their travel history. 바카라This alarms us most,바카라 says an employee. Ahmad, however, is made of stronger stuff. 바카라When people reveal that they have come from Iran and China. I listen to them carefully. There is no need to panic. Our aim is that people shouldn바카라t hide their travel history and we shouldn바카라t lose track of them,바카라 he stresses. 바카라We are a nodal agency in the district to tackle the disease and that is why people come to us. We cannot tell people with a travel history to affected countries not to visit us,바카라 he says, his voice hardening.
In these trying times, Ahmad is an outlier. A doctor at Aga Syed Yousuf Hospital in Budgam recently shouted at a patient who revealed her visit to Iran a short time back, asking her to keep a safe distance from him. Actually, this doctor and Ahmad바카라s staff are not without justification바카라without protective gear, an acute lack of masks and potential carriers of coronavirus milling around them, they can consider themselves at great risk. Â
바카라We have asked the government for masks and protective gear and they have promised us a quantity in the coming days,바카라 Ahmad smiles now. He himself wears an ordinary surgical mask, instead of the more secure N95 mask, while attÂending people who have visited affected countries.
Steadfast in his duty and largely indifferent to his own safety, Ahmad바카라s family, especially his children, are a worried lot. They have been repÂeatedly calling him to take more care. 바카라I tell them I do my job and the rest I leave everything to god,바카라 says Ahmad. This conscientious doctor doesn바카라t even switch off his phone. 바카라I am available any time. I have to be. Those who are in isolation and in quarantine look for our advice and we have to be available for them and others,바카라 he says.
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