The Gram Panchayat office of Katkapur in Jagtial district.
Jagtial: A 93-year-old woman got the better of Covid-19 without any complications and that too staying in home isolation in Katkapur of Raikal mandal in Jagtial district.
Narsamma, who was infected by the virus on April 11, tested negative on April 23. Not only Narsamma, but a total of 98 persons have also come out of Covid in Katkapur of Raikal mandal, thanks to the cooperation between the residents, public representatives and government officials.
Katkapur is the first village in the district to have reported such high numbers of Covid cases in the second wave. While the first case was reported on April 1, about 90 cases were recorded within 10 days.
As many as 110 locals, including the village sarpanch, have tested positive for the virus so far. Though two persons of a family (father and son) died of Covid, the courageous locals are not scared of the virus anymore.
The villagers decided to fight the pandemic with unity and imposed self-lockdown on April 6. All business establishments are allowed to operate between 6 am and 9 am, and 6 pm and 8 pm.
Besides strictly implementing Covid norms, gram panchayat authorities identified those contracted the virus through two medical camps. The infected were asked to stay in home isolation and follow doctors’ instructions.
Besides educating the villagers about the precautions to be taken through the public address system as well as tom-tom, the sarpanch and other youths tried to instil confidence among the infected by interacting with them over the phones.
District Collector G Ravi and District Medical and Health Officer P Sridhar visited the village when 49 cases were reported on a single day out of 180 tests conducted on April 11.
Speaking to ‘Telangana Today’, villager sarpanch Muddasani Rajamouli said as many people were infected by the virus, they had imposed a lockdown. All the villagers were tested through medical camps.
The entire village was regularly sanitised. Patients whose health condition deteriorated under home isolation were shifted to hospital, he said.
Stating that the lockdown is still on, the sarpanch said the village would be Covid-free once the remaining 12 cases test negative.