New Delhi: After emerging as one of the four leading districts with positive cases in early April, Haryana’s only Muslim majority district, Nuh, has effectively managed to contain the spread of the virus. A number of residents of the district had attended the Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Nizamuddin in mid-March.
No new cases or deaths
According to the May 11 COVID-19 bulletin of the health department of the Haryana government, a total of 60 cases were reported in Nuh of which 57 have recovered or been discharged. No new cases or deaths have been reported. With this the spread of coronavirus in the district appears to have been controlled well for the time being. Nuh district is part of the Mewat region spread over three states.
The question arises how the district, which figures in 101 most backward list, managed to control the spread of the virus despite serious social limitations.
A Supreme Court advocate, Rajeev Yadav wrote a letter to the Deputy Commissioner of the district, in which he noted that Nuh which is considered one of the most backward districts of Haryana, has managed to control the COVID-19 spread so well and that too “when advanced nation and advanced districts in India with best of medical facilities are not able to contain community transmission and lakhs of cases are coming everyday with large number of casualties.”
Measures taken
According to him, implementation of containment zones in letter and spirit prevented “community transmission” of the virus. Also “large scale testing with active participation of citizens” was also the key factor. He lauded that people came forward and got themselves quarantined.
Supreme Court advocate pointed out, “even advanced districts like Gurgaon and advanced nations like USA have not been able to contain community transmission of COVID”.
As reported by The Wire, as per the district-wise data on COVID-19, of the 22 districts in Haryana, Nuh – whose population comprises around 80% of Meo Muslims – was in the fifth spot in overall COVID-19 cases. In April, it was among the top four districts in Haryana, along with Gurgaon, Faridabad and Palwal, to report the most COVID-19 cases.
Following a sudden spurt as some of its residents had attended the Markaz in Delhi, the district adopted a target approach, not to tarnish image, but to work in tandem. Instead of naming and shaming a particular group, the administration involved all communities in the fight against COVID-19.
Yadav lauded the district administration for handling the situation sensitively and educating the local communities and citizens to report symptoms and undergo testing as a means to prevent community transmission.
He also hailed religious, political leaders who assisted in fight against COVID by instilling a sense of confidence in the community.