Mayank Sharma fiddles with the last of the surgical sanitisers inside the only pharmacy in Noida's ATS One Hamlet, the residential society in Sector 104 where a man who was confirmed positive for novel coronavirus lived before he was hospitalised. “Don’t you have one more of this bottle?” he asks the pharmacist somewhat wistfully. “I've been told only these ones are effective against the coronavirus.”
The state of uncertainty and alarm being experienced by him is shared by many. “Some say he (the patient) lived here, others say he has a house in Mayur Vihar. There’s been a lot of confusion in the society’s WhatsApp group,” says Gupta, who woke up to a frantically buzzing phone as notifications poured in on Tuesday morning. Among the first few messages was one from his son’s school.
“Everyone here knows the name of the patient. Some on these groups are claiming to have spoken to his kin and said he had gone for dinner to a Delhi hotel last week along with some seven-eight families, which also included children. When he woke up the next day, he had fever. On learning about his recent international travel, the doctor advised him to go for the virus test, which he got done at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and was found positive,” says Gupta.
The hotel on Tuesday afternoon confirmed that the man diagnosed with COVID-19, as the virus has been named by the WHO, did indeed dine at a restaurant there on February 28. All the staffers who were present in the restaurant on that day have been asked to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Sanitisers and Masks Run Out
While the authorities have not issued a full statement on the patient yet, the news has sent the residents of the ATS One Hamlet into panic. Soon after reports emerged, people thronged the only pharmacy in the colony that has 1,000-plus houses. Within four hours, stocks of both sanitisers and masks had run out.
“This is a posh locality and most apartments here keep three to four house helps. Everyone is panicked, everyone wants to be safe. So, many bought several bottles of sanitisers and masks,” said Tushar Malhotra, owner of JayCee pharmacy, on Wednesday morning as he struggled to arrange for fresh stock.
“On Tuesday, we made sales worth Rs 70,000 in sanitisers and about Rs 40,000 in masks. After the stocks got over, a lot of people enquired if we were selling those items in black. But we don’t do that,” said Malhotra, who sold a 500ml bottle of sanitiser for Rs 330 and masks for anywhere between Rs 150 and Rs 249.
In the evening, playgrounds in the colony wore a deserted look as hundreds of panic-stricken parents grappled with unverified information and phone calls from concerned relatives in the confines of their houses.
One such resident, Priyanshi, said, “There has been no awareness drive from the local authorities and I don't know who to turn to for advice. I read on the internet that only N95 masks are effective against the virus. But most pharmacies have run out of them now.”
Her seven-year-old son is friends with at least three children who are admitted in the same school where the kids of the infected person also study. “While my husband and I are trying not to panic, we also know kids don’t really practice much caution when it comes to maintaining hygiene. Today, we didn't allow him to go outside to play, but I'm sure tomorrow he would again insist on going out,” she said.
Alarm in Neighbourhood
The situation is no different in adjacent residential societies. "The maids that come in our colony also work there. Most of them are completely unaware of the disease and maintain poor hygiene. They are also the ones who come in contact with maximum people,” said a resident of Lotus Panache, another gated society which shares its boundary wall ATS One Hamlet.
As news spread, parents made frantic calls to schools to check whether they will remain open, prompting several to issue advisories. Listing out precautionary measures in an email, a school in Noida assured parents that it is fumigating classrooms and the dining area, as well as wiping furniture, door handles, windows and floors with disinfectant.
Noida Firms Roll up Sleeves
Several corporate firms also stepped up efforts and placed hand santisers at main entry points. An employee of one such company, who did not wish to be named, said the steps were taken by afternoon when it became apparent that the patient identified had a Noida connection. “A security guard at the main door is making sure all those who enter the building premises first use sanitiser,” said the employee, who works in the data analytics team of a healthcare firm.
Six people, including three children, whose samples were taken in Noida for suspected coronavirus have tested negative, officials said on Wednesday. The six have, however, been told to self-quarantine at their homes for 14 days. Among those whose samples were taken on Tuesday were a couple and their 12-year-old son, and a woman and her two children, aged 12 and five, according to Noida health department sources.
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