Hi All, I am happy to share my experience with you as a volunteer with BBMP’s CQS (Citizen Quarantine Squad) team. Recently, I volunteered to serve the society at large by getting involved with Karnataka government as part of CQS (Citizen Quarantine Squad). CQS was formed to intensify and micro-manage home quarantining amid the Corona pandemic.
As a volunteer, we were tasked with overseeing houses in respective wards where people have come-in from outside Karnataka. There were two parts to this task – one was tele calling and other was field work. The CQS was formed in mid-June, and I started working right then.
Once the team was formed, our first volunteer meet for Bellandur ward was planned in Bellandur police station. After arriving there, I could see very few people and then we got to know that there was Covid+ case in police station that morning. So, we shifted to the opposite road for our meetup. There were around 15 people that had turned up for the meeting. We were briefed up on what is expected and what is our scope, with personal safety as utmost priority. We received our Masks, face shields, gloves, BBMP home quarantine posters after the meet.
As we all were new, initially there were lots of ambiguity on what to do, how to do, who will do. But, in a couple of days all was sorted out as we started our work. The team was divided into – Tele callers and field visitors. Initially, I was part of field volunteers, but later I had to stick to tele calling as we got few Covid+ cases in our apartment. As my parents were also staying with me and my son was just 4 years old, I had to take precautions, as this made them vulnerable. So, I had to switch to tele calling and no field work after couple of weeks of field volunteering.
We received traveler’s (people visiting into Bangalore) data from BBMP through their dedicated app. There was one excel guy in our team who collated the data for our ward and shared to volunteers. Then this data was used by Tele calling team to call and enquire about the person’s well-being and any signs of covid symptoms. We also verified few other details related to their travel and dates and this was updated in the app. Then this data was used by field volunteers to visit and paste HQ posters in those houses. On call, people were very helpful and co-operated in following HQ (home quarantine) guidelines. There were few senior citizens, I remember, who thanked for calling them and enquiring about their health. Then there were some people who wanted to know if they can come out of house after quarantine and travel. Some had queries about how to get tested if they had symptoms. There were some breach cases also, where the person was not aware or he was not sure how to get the things delivered to his door. So, we just warned them not to come out of home as per guidelines and asked to get help from neighbors for getting required things. There were some cases, in which people had tested covid positive, such cases were taken care by BBMP. On an average I made around 15-20 calls daily (outside office hours) until July.
With field visits, it was more risky. I remember my first house visit, where I didn’t go planned. I just went outside for some work and thought of covering this house as it was on the way. I had only mask and no gloves or face shield. Although the house was under HQ due to travel and not covid+, still there was uncertainty. There was a senior citizen lady who was under HQ with her son and his family. I enquired about her health and any symptoms and pasted HQ poster outside their house and left with a smile. I could still recall this visit and the feelings associated with this. There were risks in some cases where in apartments we were not aware there is Covid+ case and we went for putting posters. So later, the visit to apartments where covid+ cases are there was taken care by BBMP.
After working in June and July, our CQS ID were renewed till September. But the new guidelines now from the Government, does not ask people to be under HQ once they travel into Karnataka. So, now there are other areas identified where we can contribute.
Let’s do our bit for the community! Jai Hind!
Nimish's Blog 