Lack of data on people with foreign travel history puts state govt in a spot
Kolkata: Lack of availability of data with the state government about people who have recently returned to the state from various countries and lackadaisical approach of a section of them have left senior Health officials in a spot of bother.
Many travellers who have come to the city from abroad have been reluctant to come forward and declare their travel details to the government machinery which makes it difficult for the state Health Department to track them and determine their health conditions. No proper mechanism could be established so far to carry out proper surveillance on those who have been asked to put themselves under home quarantine.
According to city-based virologists, there is always a risk of Coronavirus being transmitted from a person who has returned to the city from abroad to others if they are not put in quarantine. The symptoms of the virus might not get detected at the Kolkata Airport during thermal screening if people are in the early stage of viral attack.
"Initially, they do not show any flu-like symptoms and fever but complications may arise a week later. Consequently, the state government has urged those who have returned to the city from foreign countries to inform the local administration so that they can be put under quarantine to curb the spread of the virus to their family members and others," Dr N Bhattacharya, a virologist said.
However, a sizeable number of the people who arrived in the city in the recent past from abroad are not willing to announce their current status thereby creating a gap between them and the administration, suspect Health officials.
Some who could be potential carriers of COVID–19 and have travelled from abroad were learnt to have returned to some other cities, stayed there for a while and finally took trains to come to Kolkata. Such persons can affect others if they are not kept in isolation. The Health Department officials with the help of local administration and police have contacted some of them but have been clueless about several others whose whereabouts couldn't be traced, sources said.
It was reported that a doctor who recently returned from the USA and treated patients in a private hospital in Basirhat tested positive for Coronavirus. He has been quarantined. The district police also reportedly sealed the nursing home. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has already formed a committee in all its 16 borough offices to keep a tab on those who have been asked to remain in home quarantine.
"Home quarantine of the suspected victims is the only way to check the spread. People should communicate with the Health Department," a senior Health official said.
