This village in Karnataka had zero COVID-19 cases during second wave

The second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak which caused havoc across the country reportedly did not affect the people of the Allapur village of Dharwad district in Karnataka.

According to Mallikarjun Radder, president, COVID-19 Taskforce, Allapur Gram Panchayat, rigorous action was taken to prevent the villagers from contracting the virus, and thus there was not even a single case of the novel coronavirus reported from the village during the second COVID wave. 

Awareness campaigns were conducted and hand sanitizers and masks were also distributed to the people, he told ANI.

"Allapur is a small village in Kundgol town of Dharwad district. We were scared as the virus was fast spreading in rural areas. Being a part of a small village, it was difficult to brainstorm measures to curb the virus. So we formed a COVID-19 task force, wherein, members went from door-to-door and distributed masks and sanitiser," he said.

Hygiene has come to the fore as the main element in keeping the infection at bay and thus, a sanitization drive was conducted in the village every week, said the president."Gutters were cleaned to maintain the hygienic atmosphere, priority was given to clean drinking water supply. Taskforce members kept an eye on the villagers' health and whenever symptoms were seen we took them to hospital and got tested," said Radder.

Following these measures, not a single COVID positive case was reported in the village, he said. Tremendous efforts were being put in at a time when several villages across the country were registering a high number of cases and related deaths. 

A hotel owner in the village, Shivalingapp Angadi, said that he refrained from opening it to the public in the light of COVID-19. Ratnavva Basvanneppa Hubballi, a villager from Allapur stressed that it was a team effort to achieve a COVID-free village. She further informed that the villagers showed full cooperation as they wore masks and maintained social distancing even while working in fields.

"Some cases were reported in the nearby village of Kadapatti, but none in ours," she said. 

Karnataka on Tuesday recorded 3,709 fresh cases of COVID-19. So far, 28,15,029 positive cases have been registered in the state. Over 24 hours 139 deaths were reported taking the death toll to 34,164. Currently, there are as many as 1,18,592 active cases.