Since March 30, Bhilwara has witnessed such a turnaround that the Union government wants other cities in the country to learn from the strategies implemented in the Rajasthan district. (Photo: PTI)

From zero positive Covid-19 cases on March 18 to 26 patients on March 30, Bhilwara, a Rajasthan district around 250 kilometers away from the state capital Jaipur, seemed on the cusp of a large-scale outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

The rising numbers were becoming a matter of concern for the health department of the state. Top government officers feared an exponential rise in the number of positive novel coronavirus cases in the district.

However, since March 30, Bhilwara has witnessed such a turnaround that the Union government wants other cities in the country to learn from the strategies implemented in the Rajasthan district.

In the last eight days, between March 30 and April 6, the number of novel coronavirus cases in Bhilwara has risen by only one. And of the total 27 positive novel coronavirus cases detected in Bhilwara, 17 have been cured. Out of the 17, 13 have been discharged.

WHAT WORKED FOR BHILWARA

India Today TV has learnt that a 'ruthless containment' strategy, timely action, comprehensive screening and strict enforcement of curfew and lockdown restrictions helped Bhilwara immensely.

By the end of March, with 26 cases, Bhilwara had become an area of concern for the Rajasthan government. The district was right at the top of the table of novel coronavirus cases released by the state health department.

One private hospital there had particularly come under the scanner as 17 medical practitioners who worked there were diagnosed with Covid-19. This hospital was considered largely responsible for the spread of the virus in Bhilwara. The hospital was sealed and the concerned medical staff put in isolation.

Thereafter, the district administration, supported by Rajasthan's health department, went into mission mode to implement its 'ruthless containment' strategy.

'RUTHLESS CONTAINMENT'

District and state-level officials toiled hard to ensure that community or cluster spread of the novel coronavirus, which would have wrecked havoc, did not happen in Bhilwara. The state's health department claims it has ensured 100 per cent screening of people in Bhilwara. For this, the state government deployed 3000 teams of health workers in the district.

"The quick decision of imposing a curfew and a complete lockdown including sealing the district borders and cutting the movement of public and private vehicles -- that was number one [in the strategy to contain the spread]," Rohit Kumar Singh, the additional chief secretary of medical and health in the Rajasthan government, told India Today T.

"Number two was, you know, immediate mapping of positive cases and their contacts. Contact tracing, then identifying clusters and secondary level contacts...," Singh added. "Because this [Bhilwara] was a very different kind of case... doctors had been infected."

"And the third... most important was, immediately forming a containment zone of one kilometre within the city and then, doing a very extensive survey, reaching everybody in the city with some 3000 teams and going to 2,15,000 houses and 10 lakh people in the city and some people are double counted [sic]," Singh said.

According to the health department, more than 6,50,000 homes and 24 lakh people were screened in urban and rural Bhilwara, covering everybody in the district, making it an unprecedented exercise in healthcare.

BORDERS SEALED

On the administrative front, strict measures were undertaken. The entire district of Bhilwara was sealed and 27 chowkis were established. "The immediate step was to seal the boundaries and impose a curfew. This was the first important thing because the doctor, who was infected first, had seen many patients and the record of the patients [that we had] was only of those whom he had seen in the hospital... we had no record of the patients whom he had seen at home," Bhilwara's collector Rajendra Bhatt told India Today TV.

The district administration then acquired all hotels in the district and brought it under its jurisdiction. These hotels, with a combined total of 1541 rooms, were turned into quarantine centres where nearly a thousand people were quarantined until just this weekend. Right now there are 730 people under quarantine at these hotels.

TOTAL LOCKDOWN

Meanwhile, lockdown restrictions, which were place since March 20, were tightened to curfew-like levels from April 3. Between March 20 and April 2, stores selling essential commodities were allowed to stay open.

However, on April 3 even these stores were ordered shut and only home delivery of essentials is currently allowed. And, nobody is permitted to venture out of their homes without prior permission.

"All essential facilities also are shut such as medicine shops, ration shops, vegetable shops... everything is provided as home delivery or door to door delivery," Rajendra Bhatt, the Bhilwara collector said.

AN EXAMPLE

In the last one week, Bhilwara has seen just one new case of the novel coronavirus, bringing the district back from the cusp of what could have been an unmitigated disaster. Such has been the district's success that the central government has advised other similar affected areas of the country to learn and implement the strategies employed by the Rajasthan district.

"We were asked as to what we did in Bhilwara. We said, we did ruthless containment. So, when the meeting [of state chief secretaries] concluded, the government of India... recommended that in such zones, ruthless containment is the only way forward," Rohit Kumar Singh, the additional chief secretary of medical and health in Rajasthan told to India Today TV.