PM Narendra Modi lauds Maharashtra’s Bhosi village for breaking the chain of Covid

What good is an example if it doesn’t help others? Bhosi, a small village in the Bhokar Taluka of Nanded district in Maharashtra has grabbed the attention of the rest of India, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s by doing the ordinary in an unordinary time.

Bhosi, a small village on the outskirts of Maharashtra has an inspiring tale to tell.

With a population of 6,000 people, Bhokar Taluka’s Bhosi village in Nanded district broke the chain of coronavirus infection by adopting the principle of isolating people.

Two months ago, after a wedding ceremony, a girl from the village was found infected with the Coronavirus infection. A week later, five more people contracted the disease. This left the whole village in a commotion.

Zila Parishad member came to the rescue of the village

At this time, the Zilla Parishad member Prakash Deshmukh Bhosikar took the initiative to organize a health camp in the village in coordination with the Gram Panchayat and the Health Department. Together they conducted rapid antigen and RT-PCR tests on all the villagers only to find out that 119 had been affected by the virus.

In response to this, Bhosikar persuaded the villagers to go live in isolation on their farm for a period of 15 to 17 days as mandated by the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for patients with mild symptoms.

Farm labourers and others who did not own farms were accommodated in a makeshift 40’ x 60’ shed on Bhosikar’s own farm.

During this time, Ashatai, the village health worker, and Anganwadi sevika would also visit the fields every day and interact with patients. Food and medicines were also provided to the infected patients on the spot. Nearly everyone cooperated.

The village successfully managed to isolated 119 people, who later on recovered well and returned home after a health check-up.

Since then, the village has not had any new case of Covid-19 and has successfully broken the chain. Bhosikar says “A month and a half has passed since then and no new patient has been found in the village. Covid can be fought effectively by adopting the age-old path of isolation, as was done during the days of plague -even in villages without adequate health facilities”. As PM Narendra Modi once said, “India’s strength lies in her villages”, this village proved him right.