'You Are Treating Us Like Criminals'

A visit to the Kumar Park Society in Pune’s Bibvewadi area did not suggestanything eerie unlike media reports ever since SARS was reported in the city.The society wasn’t exactly abuzz with activity, but some kids could be seenenjoying a game of cricket as people, fewer in numbers than most weekdaysbecause of the summer heat, went about their chores normally.

So where did those pictures of the society wearing a deserted look come from?A resident told Outlook, "A lot of the society residents arevacationing outside Pune. The childrens' examinations have recently gotover." It wasn’t then just the scare of the deadly virus that was keepingpeople at bay? Not quite, as had been corroborated by the events of the past fewdays.

The D’Silva family who triggered off the scare were let off after the10-day old quarantine on April 29. Dressed in a coloured shirt and cap, StanleyD' Silva came out of the Naidu Infectious Diseases Hospital and waved at mediapersonnel and with a near-heroic confidence, said, ''I was feeling all righteven before, and I am completely okay now.''

His maternal uncle Joseph Daniel Pawar snapped at waiting newspersons for''blowing things out of proportion''. "You are treating us likecriminals," he cribbed. "The sort of things you have reported willimpact our future." Stanley's mother Vimla and sister Julie, their facescovered, got into a waiting car and left without saying anything.

The D’Silva family would like to forget their latest Pune visit for obviousreasons. Though the occasion was that of Julie's wedding, the SARS episode leftthem with more bitter memories than pleasant ones. When they were discharged,they chose to head to an "undisclosed location in the city", fromwhere they left the same evening for Ambarnath, their hometown near Mumbai.

The health authorities had advised them to do the same to avoid confusion orchaos in the city. It was less than 24 hours ago that the quarantine was liftedby the State Director General of Health Services Dr Subhash Salunke after thego-ahead from the city-based National Institute of Virology (NIV).

But not all were convinced.

Residents mobbed the deputy health officer and Dr Salunkle had to force hisentry to pacify them. There was chaos at the Kumar Park Society at the news ofthe four being let off quarantine. The residents had already vented their ire atlocal politicians and health officials for their inability to shift the patientsto an isolated location outside city limits.

Mobbed by the protestors, Dr Salunke had a harrowing time pacifying them andhe had to later acknowledge that the state machinery had not been entirelysuccessful in educating the people about the virus and its spread.

Dr Salunke could be heard shouting, "I hold the people of Pune in highesteem. Please try to think scientifically." Subsequently, the residentsunderstood the clarification provided by Dr Salunke and life in the societylimped back to normalcy.

The residents later said that local authorities had made no efforts toeducate them on the risk and did nothing to alleviate their fears.

Chairman of the society, Rajender Sancheti, recalled the day the news of SARSoutbreak was received. "We contacted the municipal commissioner and wantedthe authorities to initiate immediate quarantine procedures. There were at least100 people, including women, waiting till 2 a.m. near the society gate for thegovernment officials, who never turned up."

A lot of people were incensed that the D’Silvas insisted on going aheadwith Julie’s marriage, jeopardising the guests and an unsuspecting FatherDawre, who solemnised the wedding, completely unaware of the confirmed SARSstatus of the bride.

Simon Alhat's family, in whose apartment the four patients had stayed whenthey were confirmed as carrying the virus, faced hardships during the first fewof days of their quarantine. The Pune Municipal Corporation attendants, who wereposted at their residence, kept shying away from their duties. On condition ofanonymity, one of them later said he couldn’t stop worrying for his family.

Vicky, Simon Alhat’s son, was disappointed to see his neighbours abandonthe family. "There was nothing wrong with us. We had faith in God and knewHe would see us through." But Alhat's eldest daughter Priti says, "Theway they reacted was quite natural. We are happy things have returned tonormal."

The staff of Siddharth Hospital, who had earlier come in contact with thepatients have all tested negative, as also those who had come in contact withthe D’Silvas in Ambernath. Julie’s husband Shailesh Suryawanshi - a localpolitician - did not show any symptoms either and was let out of the house whenhe completed the mandatory 10-day quarantine period on April 30. The quarantineon the family of the priest who had solemnised Julie’s wedding was also liftedon April 30.

Even as Dr Salunke was preparing to declare the city SARS-free, another casehad tested positive -- a 27-year-old software professional named Ashish Atal,who returned from Beijing on Saturday after spending 10 days there. Despitebeing cleared at the Delhi airport, he had developed symptoms by the time helanded in Pune.

However, uncertainty surrounded the actual quarantine period. The AdditionalDirector of Health Services, Dr PP Doke, had advised his staff to follow a14-day quarantine period in accordance with WHO guidelines. But, at Dr Salunke’sbehest, the patients were discharged in 10 days.Dr Salunke believed extendingthe quarantine period would have resulted in greater tension among residents. Anofficial later said, "The virus cannot survive for more than three hoursoutside the host’s body. At the peak of summer, it is unlikely that the viruswould survive at any place the patients visited."

The state government has arranged for N95 masks to be distributed in thecity. It has also decided not to reveal the names of suspected or confirmedpatients to save them from social stigma, a decision that has been sharplycriticised.