In Latur, district admin wants one ‘ACP’ in every family to check virus spread

“Under the Anti-Corona Police Force, we will have ACPs. The system Anti-Corona Police or ACPs is based on the belief that if one or two persons in a family take responsibility, then the spread of coronavirus can be effectively controlled,” he said.

The collector said they have urged at least one family member to step forward and join their campaign. He said the administration has framed 12 questions that the ACPs are supposed to ask their family members. “… The ACP should first ensure that social distancing is maintained at their homes. The ACPs are supposed to ask questions such as whether it was really necessary for the family member to step out of the home; if it was really necessary, then the family member should be asked whether he or she was wearing a mask. If the family member does not have a mask, then can he or she get a handmade mask,” said Shrikant.

Similarly, the collector said the ACPs should ask family members, who have come from outside, whether they have sanitised their hands or washed them with soap for 20 seconds. “Like these, there will be 12 questions which the ACPs are supposed to ask their family members,” he said.

The collector said his administration believes that if at least one member of the family acts as the “ACP or a tough cop”, there is no reason why coronavirus can’t be contained.

The collector said he has himself taken the lead in this case by “appointing” his five-year-old daughter Shaswati as an ACP and his wife Sonam as another ACP to keep coronavirus away from their home. “Similarly, every family in the district will have an ACP. We are getting a good response from across the district,” he said.

Shrikant said the administration has already been able to effectively control the spread of the virus by isolating people who came from Pune and Mumbai, the two worst-hit cities in the state. “Nearly 60,000 people who came from foreign countries or from cities like Pune and Mumbai have been home-quarantined. Many of them have completed 14 days of their quarantine period,” he said.

The collector said Latur district has so far seen eight positive cases, all of whom were “outsiders”, not from Latur district. “These eight people were heading from Haryana to Andhra Pradesh when their vehicle driver fled… after their tests were conducted, they were found to be positive. All of them are in stable condition,” he said.