Medical team recounts containment zone experience

“ We got tremendous support from the residents of K.K. Pudur”

02/05/2020, KARTHIK MADHAVAN,COIMBATORE

The team from Coimbatore Corporation's Urban Primary Health Centre in K.K. Pudur that attended to residents' needs in the first COVID-19 containment zone in the city.S. Siva Saravanan

When medical officer Lakshmi Bharathi picked up her mobile phone to answer a call on March 19, little did she realise that the news to be conveyed to her would change how the medical team at the K.K. Pudur Urban Primary Health Centre would work in the days to follow. The team worked for a month and a half since then in that area, and the containment zone restrictions were ordered to be lifted on Thursday night.

The call from Coimbatore Corporation Health Officer K. Santhoshkumar said a person from the area had reported positive for COVID-19.

A girl from the area who had returned from Spain had tested positive for the corona virus, making it the first case in Coimbatore.

After taking advice and getting personal protection kits from Dr. Santhoshkumar, the team on March 20 started going door-to-door in the girl’s neighbourhood to check if anybody complained of fever or showed COVID-19 symptoms.

“When the news reached me and I relayed it to the team, we knew we will be in the forefront. That did not scare us,” says Dr. Bharathi, speaking on behalf of urban health nurses P. Venkateswari, A. Thangamani and A. Prema.

As the team went door-to-door, it was only welcomed. “Gates of apartments and palatial houses that were hitherto closed to us, opened up as people cooperated,” she says. “In an apartment, the residents were so kind that they served tea to all of us,” adds Ms. Venkateswari.

That the medical team had a record of all pregnant mothers and feeding mothers only helped ease things as several faces were familiar.

While going door-to-door the only problem the team faced was sweat and heat as the members were covered from head to toe in protective gear. “Even drinking water became difficult,” Ms. Venkateswari recalls.

“In a few cases, the people called us to ask if we could check on families that went into self-quarantine,” says Ms. Thangamani.

The COVID-19 work only added to the team’s work burden and that meant long hours at the centre. “Even as we were engaged in containing the spread of the virus, we oversaw five deliveries,” says Dr. Bharathi.

And then there were adjustments that they had to make to their working style as well. “Each of us in the team took an additional set of clothes to the centre. After returning from the containment zone, we would bathe and change into new set of clothes,” says Ms. Prema.

During this period, the team got support from family as well. “My husband took charge of cooking breakfast,” Ms. Venkateswari says. “My husband started cleaning the house and even doing dishes,” adds Ms. Thangamni.

Being the first Corporation medical team to work in containment zone also had some advantages. “When Podanur saw a few COVID-19 cases, we were the first ones whom the medical team there called to ask how to go about performing the additional duty. In that way, we were kind of mentors,” recall Ms. Prema and Thangamani.