The arrival of residents of Himachal from other states and the subsequent detection of some of them as COVID-19 positive might have complicated the situation for the government which was hoping to make the state Corona Free.

But a woman in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh has become Corona Warrior in the true sense and is leading by example in the fight against COVID-19.

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Soma Devi, a resident of Ghindi village in Parkharer panchayat, hasn’t let her daughter, Himani, along with two others enter the village to avoid any chance of Coronavirus infection.

The trio had returned from Chandigarh on 4 May in Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses that were being run by the state government to bring back residents from other states.

Instead, she along with parents of other two persons had taken a house on rent 4 km away from the village, despite belonging to poor families, for their 14 days mandatory quarantine period.

“My daughter, Himani, who works in a private company in Chandigarh, had returned along with two others who are the children of my relatives.

Upon their arrival, we decided to arrange for a stay outside the village as it is mandatory to remain 14 days in quarantine to avoid any chance of spread of deadly disease among others.

Hence, we decided to hire a house which is located around 4 km from the village to ensure their comfortable stay as well as fulfilling our social responsibility in these times of crisis,” she said.

Soma Devi said the rented house had six rooms and it had all facilities for completing 14 days quarantine period.

“Our family as well the family of other two are delivering food and other essential items alternatively in morning and evening on daily basis to them,” she said, adding the panchayat representatives were also helping them in this noble cause.

Meanwhile, in another case, two youth of Murhag panchayat, who had returned from Gurugram in Haryana on 6 May, had opted for institutional quarantine instead of home quarantine to prevent the possibility of infecting parents or villagers.

Mandi Deputy Commissioner Rugved Thakur said several such examples had come to fore wherein many returnees had opted for institutional quarantine instead of home quarantine in the district.

While some others had made arrangements for their wards outside the village to avoid community transmission, he said, adding such persons were examples for others who were returning to the state after lifting of restrictions.

Thakur added that the district had made 500 institutional quarantine centres in the district with a capacity of 2,200 persons in these centres.

It is worthwhile to mention here that Mandi district had recorded first COVID-19 case on 4 May when a 30-year-old youth, who had returned from Delhi, was tested positive for the disease.

He had died the next day and his mother had also been tested positive for the infectious disease.

On 6 May, the district administration had decided to place persons who had returned from other states along with their family members under home quarantine for 14 days.

And if such a person violates home quarantine norms, then the district administration would place the entire family under institutional quarantine, however, one can opt for institutional to save his entire family from getting quarantined.