[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by saisree

....
1. Are you OK with the approach?
2. What is being sprayed?.

What's being sprayed is a critical, probably the most critical, part of the approach, so those two questions cannot be answered separately.

All due respect, it's not the in-the-field cop's job to ask and differentiate. He's a cop, not a chemist (not to be confused with friendly neighborhood pharmacy chap), and I find it hard to believe any of them just thought this up by themselves. Who is giving them these orders, and taking responsibility for the safety and/or consequences of this 'approach'?

Unless the procedure is done in a standardized manner, including 'what' is being sprayed (a human-tested and clinically safe disinfectant, if that isn't too much to ask), they have no business doing it.

[humyum]

Originally Posted by kiku007

Did the workers and their family deserve the below? Who's job was it to protect them?

Link: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/coro...home-topscroll

"At a time when thousands of migrants across the country are trying to return to their hometowns amid nationwide lockdown over coronavirus or COVID-19, a shocking video has emerged from Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district - about 270 km from Lucknow - that shows a batch of migrants being sprayed by disinfectants.
In the video, some men in protective gear are seen spraying disinfectants on a group of migrants, including women and children, sitting on the road. Among the spectators are some policemen. "


"The fear and the panic over the coronavirus pandemic is bigger that the virus itself, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said today as the Supreme Court heard two petitions seeking relief for thousands of migrant workers who are leaving big cities en masse for their hometowns because they don't have the resources to sustain during the 21-day coronavirus lockdown."

Link: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/coro...=home-bigstory

Time and again people are being misled by rhetoric and ill-planned big-bang overnight sweeping announcements.

After some months I hope people don't come and defend this exercise with benefits like a drop in pollution and road crash deaths. We've seen a similar scenario earlier where the objective was changed to suit the outcome.

Was this done to people who returned from flights and were rescued?

The answer lies right in my question above

[m8002?]

Its sad to see people justifying that the govt. is doing "something" and its better than doing nothing. Simply put, the govt. should "not" be doing nothing. They should be doing the right thing. Atleast deal with some sensitivity.

To those justifying it, if someone in your society was diagnosed as CV+ve and the the muncipality guys came with a tanker, and asked your family and the entire apartment dwellers to line up/squat on the road and dosed them, would you be proud of the govt. doing something?

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by saisree

This is a well known procedure followed by... .

Were passengers on international flights to India treated with the same disinfectants? If they were, how is it that it did not stop the virus spreading to the rest of the country? If they were not, why not? This disinfection routine is new, it would have helped if the administration had prominently announced its intention to use it and stated its pros and cons. But it should be first tried out on VIPs. Like I stated earlier, someone from the administration should be on the receiving end, and have volunteered to show others it was safe by having it sprayed on their own body.

[WorkingGuru]

Originally Posted by m8002?

Its sad to see people justifying that the govt. is doing "something" and its better than doing nothing. Simply put, the govt. should "not" be doing nothing. They should be doing the right thing...

Brazil is doing nothing. I'm glad I don't live there.

Atleast deal with some sensitivity.

Sensitivity is a subjective term, even if one is sensitive in a certain way, he or she must abide by the law.

To those justifying it, if someone in your society was diagnosed as CV+ve and the the muncipality guys came with a tanker, and asked your family and the entire apartment dwellers to line up/squat on the road and dosed them, would you be proud of the govt. doing something?

Why such contempt towards "muncipality guys" !? They're qualified individuals, who're authorised and legally obligated to administer their duties.

If any individual(/s) was having a special moment, and refusing to get disinfected with regular normal standard procedure (H2O2 or other chemical that was legal to be administered), citing that the "muncipality guys" method is not suitable to their style & preference, then I'd want the authorities to deal with these individuals as per law, as it puts others at immediate risk of disease & violates others right to life.

Originally Posted by mvadg

Were passengers on international flights to India treated with the same disinfectants? If they were, how is it that it did not stop the virus spreading to the rest of the country? If they were not, why not? This disinfection routine is new, it would have helped if the administration had prominently announced its intention to use it and stated its pros and cons. But it should be first tried out on VIPs. Like I stated earlier, someone from the administration should be on the receiving end, and have volunteered to show others it was safe by having it sprayed on their own body.

I don't see its usage on flight passengers as conclusive to anything. You want others to be scape-goats to what you fancy to believe is a hazardous chemical ?

I trust no sane govt would illegally spray hazardous chemicals on its citizens. Skepticism is OK, cynicism at the time of a national emergency is undue IMO.

[condor]

Karnataka opens up the health sector at all levels. This includes clinics, hospitals and pharma related units (Pharmacies were already working). The COVID19 related hospitals are being kept separate, and so is the medical waste from these.


Personally, was waiting for this - urgently need a vision test & prescription glasses.

[ramzsys]

This thread is now all about 'i type (me included), therefore I am'. Not demeaning any of you - it's all done in the aim of trying to get rid of the disease and you are sharing your perspectives which are as diverse as the vast sectors of the economy.

Empathy is when you put yourself in place of the one and see their world; you express how inhuman the pressurized disinfecting is to them as seen from your own eyes; feeling bad for someone while not being able to do anything about it is something that's bordering on self abuse.

My early comparison to 2 kinds of queue got nothing to do with religion but with how the 2 different set of people from each end of economic spectrum live their lives: India and the Bharat. The former is more brain driven and thus in modern times is able to afford a quality of life that cannot be achieved by the latter who is muscle driven and is therefore replaceable - brute force jobs and can tolerate a bit of abuse, in case they perceived this treatment as one.

The news says they were asked to close their eyes as they sprayed. I hope they held their breaths as well for this (relatively) minor discomfort. It's all probability of reducing anything in their skin or the clothes or the belongings. This is not an attempt from me to justify whether it is the right thing. 20 pages of this thread discussing the rights and wrongs of lock down and it seems to keep going on; maybe the next few pages we can come to a conclusion about the best way to disinfect; in the meanwhile the disinfected laborer probably is already in the comfort of his village. Happy about that.

And no, I am not on the side of the government or the authorities or the color of the political party or the supporter of demo. In fact, only this evening managed to send an Eicher with farm produce(@ 80% of the usual market rate) to the neighboring state; waiting for the drivers call that he reached safe.

First world ideas, thoughts, perspectives.
Second world's rat race to the bottom for survival.
Third world herd behavior driving the masses.

Let's see if we can tide over this crisis.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by WorkingGuru

Skepticism is OK, cynicism at the time of a national emergency is undue IMO.

Sorry, is it wrong to question the government? Especially, given that everyone is aware of how competently everything is handled by the government? They are people, not gods that we should not question. Like I said, they could have publicized their modus operandi. And given the kind of punishment the government has been needlessly heaping on its citizens, is it wrong to have a member of the government demonstrate the safety of the procedure? What is the reasoning behind your not spraying a representative member of the government with, in your own words, "hazardous" chemicals, but spraying someone else with that same hazardous chemical? I would also want such government officials to walk 200 kilometers without food and water to understand the bad decisions they make.

[dailydriver]

Government of Karnataka implements Selfie Attendance Scheme for Home Quarantined Covid19 suspects

The News Minute reports that all home quarantined individuals in Karnataka must now onwards upload a selfie every hour from their homes to confirm that they are not violating the quarantine norms/rules.

The Karnataka government has asked all those who are quarantined at home over the COVID-19 outbreak to send a selfie every hour from their home, failing which they may be housed in mass quarantine centres. That’s 15 selfies per day for 14 days, amounting to a total of 210 selfies for the entire quarantine period!

A press release, which was signed by Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar, also mentions that this exercise will be repeated, except during sleeping hours from 10 pm to 7 am

“If home quarantine person fails to send selfie every one hour (except sleeping time from 10 PM to 7 AM) then the government will reach such defaulters and they are liable to be shifted them to government created mass quarantine,” (sic) reads the directive.

It mentions that the selfie or photo will include location coordinates which informs the government where the sender is.

The move has expectedly raised a few eyebrows.

the move has faced opposition, with technology policy experts questioning the need for collecting large amounts of data pertaining to people who are quarantined. “Taking selfies and uploading them every hour is enabling the collection of more information than what is needed. One does know to what extent will this data remain or will be removed in the future,” Apar Gupta, Executive Director, Internet Freedom Foundation told TNM. He further pointed out that the link to the app's privacy policy led the user to the website of the Revenue Department of Karnataka.

Last week, the same department released a list of around 20,000 addresses of people who are currently quarantined at their homes. The state government also released a mobile application which revealed the addresses of COVID-19 patients in the state. The list of addresses were divided by districts and it included over 14,000 addresses from Bengaluru alone.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by WorkingGuru

An acquaintance tells me that for COVID-19 the cleaning agent used could simply be bleach, or maybe hydrogen peroxide. Both are ordinary cleaning agents and not particularly harmful if administered properly.

You don't read many labels, I gather. You should. They contain information essential for your safety, as well as information that makes others safe. Please, learn more about dangerous chemicals, even those that might be found in the home.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by WorkingGuru

....bleach, or maybe hydrogen peroxide. Both are ordinary cleaning agents and not particularly harmful if administered properly....

I've intentionally highlighted some parts in bold, because I hope you understand that both those disinfectants you refer to are used on a broad dilution spectrum.

Hydrogen Peroxide, for example, is used from anywhere between <3% (over-the-counter medical disinfectant we buy at pharmacies for cleaning superficial wounds) to 90% (industrial grade disinfectant).

Properly administering it is key in any situation, because these are hazardous chemicals that can have severe adverse reactions at higher concentration, and potentially fatal to humans if ingested.

Trusting municipal staff, or anyone else, who isn't specifically trained for administering such chemicals to humans, is highly irresponsible. It's not their fault, it's the person giving them orders who is and should be held responsible.

Hazardous Chemicals have specific operating and safety procedures (you would've noticed HAZCHEM plates on vehicles transporting such stuff), and those standards exist for a reason.

Wanting action and supporting it is one thing, nobody wants to die of COVID-19 if it can be helped, but supporting dangerously ignorant practices because it's 'better than doing nothing' is not the way to go about it.

[Thad E Ginathom]

There is a serious human-rights issue here, as well as serious matter of chemical safety. Please consider constructively. I don't think many have realised how serious.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Wanting action and supporting it is one thing, nobody wants to die of COVID-19 if it can be helped, but supporting dangerously ignorant practices because it's 'better than doing nothing' is not the way to go about it.

Agreed. That action by the municipal guys was eerily reminiscent of considering another person as subhuman. Like how house help is still called "servant " by some.
Pukeworthy that was , and I hope when all things run their course, these people are brought to book.

[msdivy]

Are post offices open? My friend needs to send urgent medicine to his in-laws in Mysore. He was able to procure in Bangalore and was planning to send via speed post. But none of the post offices were open today. Any alternative?

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by msdivy

Are post offices open? My friend needs to send urgent medicine to his in-laws in Mysore. He was able to procure in Bangalore and was planning to send via speed post. But none of the post offices were open today. Any alternative?

Please ask your friend to check with private courier agencies nearby. Here in Hyderabad, they seem to be operational. Yesterday I remember seeing a DTDC counter open and few people queued up in front of it.