By the latter half of 2019, the world saw the outbreak of the dreadful Coronavirus Pandemic which brought the entire social and economic machinery of the world to a complete standstill in a matter of weeks. The entire healthcare system of most countries, the world over, was thrown into chaos and people from all walks of life were affected in one way or the other. The effects of the pandemic started seeping into the North East (primarily Assam) by mid March of 2020 and by the end of the month, the state had plunged into complete lockdown. The poor and underprivileged section of the society was the most harshly hit as all economic activity had halted and there was very little in the form of relief for this section of the society in the midst of this chaos.
In these dreadful times, many fearless ‘warriors’ in the healthcare industry stepped up to provide timely medical attention to those in need. The team at Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya was no slouch in this regard as the Hospital and its services were kept open for all in this time of trouble. Strict COVID safety protocols were being maintained and each OPD case was discharged in 20 minutes without fail.
Door-door Home Screening done by Community Health Workers
Moreover, the SSDN team also took the initiative to continue its Community based Eye Healthcare work even in these troubling times. Since organizing Community Eye Screening camps was not possible as large public gatherings were not advisable/permitted, the Community Health Workers based at all the Vision Centers of SSDN were instructed to continue eye screening on a door-to-door basis in all of its adopted Villages. The Community Health Workers were provided with the necessary COVID safety gear (Face shields, Hand Sanitizers, Gloves, Masks etc.) and they fearlessly visited the households in their designated clusters. Any patients identified with cataract were referred to the respective Vision Centers for further screening by the Vision Center Optometrist, and then to SSDN Main for necessary Cataract Surgery.
COVID – 19 Relief Apart from its Healthcare duties in the time of the Pandemic, SSDN also took the major initiative to conduct COVID relief work at certain districts of Assam. Under this initiative, from the month of May, 2020 onwards, a team from SSDN would be sent out around twice every week, to certain predetermined villages falling under the blanket of SSDN Adopted Villages, in and around the city of Guwahati to distribute packets of food and other basic household amenities amongst the local villagers and the extremely needy section of the society. Each packet contained essential items like rice, lentils, potatoes, salt, cooking oil and a bar of soap; enough to sustain a family of 4 for at least 10 days at a stretch.
Help of Assam Police was taken to maintain law & order during these activities.
COVID Relief work in the Sonapur area:
Distribution of Dry Rations:
Distribution of Hygeine Kits: Continuing in the same spirit of its initial COVID Relief work, SSDN very soon also undertook the initiative to distribute ‘Hygiene Kits’ to certain villages in and around the areas of Sonapur, Hajo, Sualkuchi, Bijoynagar, Morigaon and Mangaldoi.
Maintaining strict COVID Safety Protocols, the teams from the Vision Centers of the selected areas, regularly distributed the Hygiene Kits on a door-to-door basis. In certain cases, the Hygiene kits were also distributed from the Vision Center itself.
Each Kit contained personal Hygiene amenities like – Hand sanitizers, Liquid Hand wash, Soap bars, Floor Cleaning agents, detergents, Masks, Gloves etc.
The Villagers were also shown the proper technique of washing one’s hands and the proper safety guidelines to follow in the current COVID scenario.
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