Coronavirus outbreak: How a sleepy Siwan village became 'Wuhan of Bihar'

PATNA: The entrance to the village is blocked with a makeshift gate made of sturdy bamboo poles and a notice in Hindi pasted on it reads, ‘Doosre gaon ke logon ka andar ana sampurna varjit hai (Entry of outsiders prohibited)’. A drone occasionally hovers overhead to ensure complete lockdown of Panjwar, the village in Siwan, which is being called as ‘Wuhan of Bihar’ for recording 23 of the 60 coronavirus cases in the state.
Till about a month ago, this nondescript village was just another hamlet in Siwan district. But now it has the attention of the entire state and is now on the Covid map of the country as well, because of a man in his late 20s, who arrived from Oman on March 22 and tested positive more than a week later.
This sleepy village under Raghunathpur block has now 23 corona positive cases, including the primary carrier, all of whom are either related to him or are neighbours.
Madan Singh, a 34-year-old resident of the village, recounted the horror tale of this asymptomatic youth, who is now quarantined at a facility in Siwan.
“He used to mingle with people as usual. He even used to play cricket with local youths. Nobody was scared of him as nothing was found unusual. He was asymptomatic so nobody suspected anything was wrong with him,” said Madan, who is well acquainted with the Covid-19 infected family.
He was shifted to a Siwan hotel, which has been turned into a quarantine centre, with other suspects only when the test report confirmed him positive for Covid 19 on April 3.
Madan, who works in a private firm in Siwan, claimed that the youth may have infected at least 100 people from this village and neighouring areas. “He used to visit the local market for shopping after his return from Oman. How many people have come into his contact is subject to investigation,” the local resident told TOI over phone.
According to his family members, the youth landed in Delhi from Oman on March 21 and reached home on March 22 via Patna. The matter came to light when the first positive case was reported from a village under Nautan block of the district on March 27. The authorities ordered re-examination of those who had returned from abroad. And the name of Panjwar resident figured in the list.
Even then he tried to evade medical examination. “When a medical team visited the village to collect samples for test, the youth confined himself in his ‘dalan’ and told the team that he was ‘under home quarantine’ and not staying with the family members,” another resident Rakesh Kumar (28) said.
However, his blood sample was collected on April 1 and the test report confirmed him positive for Covid 19. “He stayed with the family members from March 22 to April 1 and thus infected altogether 23 members of his family and close relatives. While the test reports of 23 have been found positive, the reports of the remaining people were awaited,” said a senior government officer posted in Siwan.
Medical officer of Raghunathpur block said the man was asymptomatic and all those who got the virus from him have also been asymptomatic. He admitted that the Oman-returned man didn’t follow the home quarantine norms and the result is for all to see.
Residents of the village have been asked to remain indoors. The entry and exit points already been sealed and surveillance on the movement of the inhabitants intensified. Drones are being used to keep surveillance on the inhabitants.
In addition, personnel of Bihar Military Police and the district armed police force have been deployed in every corner of the village. Village chaukidars and Asha workers have been directed to report to senior officials if they found anybody flouting the lockdown.
The state government on Thursday directed the Saran divisional commissioner and DIG to camp at the village, indicating how grim the situation is.
DIG, Saran range, Vijay Kumar Verma hurriedly called a meeting with Siwan SP Abhinav Kumar to seal Panjwar village and its adjoining areas. Siwan DM Amit Pandey said instructions have been issued to sanitize all houses in the radius of 300 metres of the Covid 19 victim’s house.
Altogether six containment zones have been earmarked. Samples of 96 people have been sent to Patna for test and reports are awaited.