HYDERABAD: Residents of Khaskheli Para, a slum along Makki Shah Road with a maze of labyrinthine lanes, which remains abuzz with hustle and bustle of life even during lockdown because of being overcrowded, appeared eerily silent and scared on Thursday.

Many have already fled their homes ahead of the arrival of health officials’ teams for collection of samples after a resident of the area — a policeman — tested positive for novel coronavirus on April 19 and then on April 22, ten members of his family too were found to have the virus, prompting health authorities to go for more tests.

Since 11am till 4pm, part of Maki Shah Road, which leads to Khaskheli Para, remained closed for traffic and people were restrained from going to the area where health workers, led by a doctor from district health office, were busy collecting samples.

After the sample collection was done, a team of health officials conducted survey of the area. Around 60 people had been identified for the sample collection. “However, when our team reached there it came to know that many people are not present and doors of the houses were found to be padlocked,” said a health official.

“Later, it was learnt that only 16 samples can be collected out of the identified ones,” he pointed out and said that “someone had leaked information to the residents about the sampling and they took flight out of fear”.

“The area has been completely sealed since afternoon after health teams arrived here,” said Faizan Ali, a young resident while chatting with two policemen who were deployed in one of the alleys.

“People are scared and many have left. But it is the right thing to do to collect their samples,” said Ali, who works at a nearby showroom.

An administration official Faraz Siddiqui came to oversee the situation during the sample collection. Dressed in biohazard suits health officials had worn goggles, N-95 masks, hand gloves and face sheets while spending a few hours in preserving nasopharyngeal swabs.

Police provided security to them till their job was done. The purpose of collection of samples, says one official, is to exclude possibility of anyone having contracted Coivd-19.

Hyderabad district has had the highest number of coronavirus cases after Karachi until recently though most of the patients hailed from other districts and provinces.

“Some residents told us that not all of them had got in touch with the policeman or his relatives because the time of arrival and departure from the area was quite different from the rest of them but still they were scared,” said a health official quoting a resident of the locality.

“Health officials, who are part of sample collection and survey exercises in any area, are supposed to burn kits they wear in a corner of the area as these kits can’t be reused,” said an official.

Those who were exposed to suspected or confirmed Covid-19 patients had to use the personal protective equipment (PPE) and then destroy them, he said.

The infected policeman has been lodged at Liaquat University Hospital’s (LUH) isolation ward while his family members have been kept in Kohsar Latifabad Hospital’s isolation facility.

No area has so far been sealed in the city or identified as a hotspot for virus but health and district administration authorities are trying to trace contacts of the patients in Hyderabad.

Health workers had also collected samples of a family in Hirabad area where a resident died after contracting the virus and his brother and son volunteered for Covid-19 tests.

“Subsequently, the deceased’s brother tested positive and then health teams collected samples of seven of his acquaintances or those who might have got in touch with the patient,” said a health official.

Sindh reports 3,671 Covid-19 cases out of Pakistan’s 10,927 cases so far. In Hyderabad, over 200 positive cases have been reported but a sizeable number of them have recovered as well.

Most members of Tableeghi Jamaat who formed major part of infected persons have left for their hometowns after having tested negative in back-to-back tests as per SOPs.

So far, three people have died at LUH’s isolation centre. But one of them actually hailed from Tando Mohammad Khan and a female patient, resident of Khursheed Town, was admitted to a private hospital in Karachi and died there on account of Covid-19 as per health department’s claim.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2020