Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that his government will adopt the ‘Bhilwara model’ to check the spread of coronavirus in Indore that has emerged as the hotspot in the landlocked state. The ‘Bhilwara model’ refers to the measures taken in the Rajasthan town which was becoming a hotspot to contain the spread of coronavirus. Under the model, the state government shut down the district borders and got everyone tested. No new cases have been found in there in several days.
“We have decided to adopt the Bhilwara model to tackle the coronavirus situation in the city,” CM Chouhan told PTI in an e-mailed interview. “We are trying to ascertain the health status of all residents of Indore. For this, we are going to conduct screening of every citizen of Indore,” the CM added.
Indore is the state’s industrial hub and has a population of more than 30 lakh. It has emerged as a coronavirus hotspot in Madhya Pradesh, reporting 1,176 positive coronavirus cases and 57 deaths. Its COVID-19 death rate at 4.85% is higher than the national average.
When asked about the higher death rate in Indore, Chouhan said that a large number of patients among those who succumbed to coronavirus had other serious illnesses. “Such patients were brought late to hospital.”
Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district has come a long way in its fight against coronavirus. The first positive case was reported on March 19 and soon it emerged as a hotspot. The administration swung into action and adopted an aggressive model of containing the virus. The district was sealed completely and the local administration took over four private hospitals and 27 hotels. The measures yielded fruitful results and the district didn’t report a new case since March 30.
Chouhan said that his government was also adopting the ‘IITT’ formula – of identification, isolation, testing and treatment – to deal with the outbreak.
On the possibility of lifting the lockdown in Indore after May 3, he said that a suitable decision will be taken in the interest of the city after reviewing the situation.
According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Madhya Pradesh has reported 2,096 coronavirus cases including 210 cured/discharged/migrated. 1.3 have lost their lives so far.