Guwahati, June 21 (NKTV): The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) has issued a COVID-19 Advisory for flood affected people in temporary shelters other than relief camps.
Any informal temporary shelters that may come into being during floods, must follow Covid Appropriate Behaviours and protocols as mentioned below:
- Shelter Coordination Committee – As people resort to temporary shelters, a shelter coordination committee shall be formed and focal point shall be nominated by people themselves comprising of inmates with adequate representation of women, adolescents and young people and elderly to coordinate with local administration. The local administration must be notified about existence of such camp at the earliest and GR request through Gaon Burah/ Lot mondal / Panchayat representatives shall be placed before the local administration by the committee. The Shelter co-ordination committee will also arrange COVID testing /RAT at regular intervals with the help of health team. The Shelter co-ordination committee may arrange COVID19 vaccination camp for the inmates with the help of District Immunization Officer.
- Co-ordination of Relief Distribution / essential items: Relief and essential item distribution should be coordinated maintaining social distancing norms.
- Display of Emergency Phone Numbers: Emergency phone numbers should be displayed in the temporary shelter sites like DEOC (Control Room) No, Police Control Room No, Health, Fire & APDCL.
- Awareness on Covid appropriate behavior: The inmates should be adequately sensitized by local administration on the Govt. advisory and COVID appropriate behavior to be adopted in such temporary shelters through public miking, IEC distribution etc. Local administration may engage community volunteers like Protirudhi bandhu volunteers, Aapada Mitra, Civil Defence volunteers etc. for this purpose. Further the medical teams visiting such relief camps may guide the inmates for Covid appropriate behavior and testing within 24 hours of starting such shelters/ camps.
- Sanitization of Temporary Shelters: Daily sanitization of temporary shelters shall be ensured by local administration. One team per shelter or one team for a group of adjacent shelters can be assigned for sanitization of such shelters.
- Social Distancing within and between tents- If any temporary shelter is created, social distancing of at least 6 feet shall be ensured between every tent and accordingly number of tents shall be erected. Per person covered space of 7 square metre shall be maintained as far as possible. Adequate quantity of tarpaulins shall be requested through Gaon Burah /lot mondal / Panchayat representatives by the shelter coordination committee. District / Local administration should provide sufficient tarpaulins to each family so that each family member can maintain a minimum covered space of 7 square metre within the tent.
- Adequate water arrangements- The shelter coordination committee through Gaon Burah/ Lot Mondal /Panchayat Representatives shall request PHED department for providing minimum 20 litres of water per person per day through appropriate sources. Hygiene shall not be compromised at any cost.
- Adequate Lighting arrangements: District Administration will ensure adequate lighting arrangements in the temporary shelters. The inmates should not face any difficulty for staying in the shelters during night time.
- Handwashing facility with Soap- Any such temporary shelter site shall have provision for hand washing with soap at entry and exit; and other locations depending upon the total population in such temporary shelters shall be made. Local arrangements based on materials available shall be made. 60 seconds of handwashing during entry, before and after use of toilet, before and after taking food, feeding baby, handling child faeces shall be ensured.
- Mandatory wearing of masks- all such flood affected families in temporary shelters must ensure that all members always wear masks mandatorily. They must be worn properly to cover nose and mouth. Touching the front portion of mask/face covers to be avoided. The site should have a common mask disposal bin which can be covered and all guidelines related to safe disposal of masks shall be followed. At least one triple layer mask should be given free of cost to the relief camp / temporary shelter inmates from DDMA per day.
- Separate toilets form male and female- Within a minimum distance of 10 metre and maximum 50 metre of any such temporary shelters, either existing community toilets to be identified and demarcated as male and female toilets or separate temporary toilets shall be erected with support of PHED. Adequate water for cleaning and hand washing with soap shall be made available in such toilets. Adequate distance (at least 20ft) should be maintained while installing hand pumps and temporary toilets. Separate toilets should be installed for People with Disability and Elderly persons. PHE department will monitor the installation of temporary toilets and temporary bathrooms, Field Officer (DM) will ensure availability of soaps for hand washing in temporary shelters along with installation of dustbins. Community volunteers like Pratirodhi bandhus / Aapada mitra / Civil Defence volunteers etc. will assist District Administration in proper arrangement of temporary toilet facilities in the temporary shelters.
- Random health check ups and screening- The shelter coordination committee will also coordinate through local ASHA/ ANM for random screening and checkup in the shelter site through health camps on daily basis. Occasional testing with “RAT” in case the temporary shelter/ relief camp comes under containment zone or the number of COVID cases reported are increasing in that area.
- Caring the vulnerable- The shelter coordination committee shall enlist all pregnant women, lactating mothers, infants and young children, elderly, persons with disability and sick/persons on going any critical medical condition and provide special care and inform appropriate department/ local administration through Goan Burah/ Lot Mondal/ Panchayat representatives for support whenever needed.
- Child Friendly Space- A separate tent shall be earmarked for children. Local administration will provide extra tarpaulins to the shelter co-ordination committee based on requirement. Nearest ICDS workers/ school teachers shall be informed by the shelter coordination committee to operationalize such centres maintaining Covid protocols as per existing guidelines. Lactating mothers and mothers of young children shall be supported for age appropriate feeding of infant and young children through this space. For construction of CFS, miscellaneous costs for procurement of bamboo, CGI sheets, labour cost. etc., should be spent from the fund allocated for GR etc.
- Isolation shelters / Sick room- 1-2 extra tent shall be made functional through local administration to keep any person showing any symptoms of COVID-19 in the temporary shelters or people who were in home isolation and have evacuated to such temporary shelters. However if any inmate is found Covid positive during their stay in temporary shelter or the inmate is more than 50 years age group, they must be sent to the nearby government COVID care center immediately. Isolation tents shall be erected at a distance from other tents and movement of other people shall be restricted. Necessary support to such people in terms of food, water etc. shall be provided by the committee following all safety protocols. For construction of Isolation shelters, miscellaneous costs for procurement of bamboo, CGI sheets, labour cost. etc., should be spent from the fund allocated for GR etc. In case of Isolation shelters for COVID-19 affected inmates, toilet and hand pump should be separately installed along with separate pits/ closed dustbins for menstrual hygiene management. Items for regular disinfection/ sanitization of such shelters should be provided in adequate quantities by PHED / Local administration. PHE department will monitor the installation of temporary toilets and temporary bathrooms in isolation shelters, Field Officer (DM) will ensure availability of soaps for hand washing and installation of covered dustbins in temporary isolation shelters. Community volunteers like Pratirodhi bandhus / Aapada mitra / Civil Defence volunteers etc. will assist District Administration in proper arrangement of temporary toilet facilities in the isolation shelters.
- Food Safety- If a community level kitchen is organized, due care shall be taken for cleaning of the raw food items and hygienic cooking. There shall be a roster of people managing the kitchen who should wear all necessary protective gears (like masks & hand gloves) and should follow all protocols from cleaning, cooking to management of residues / kitchen waste.
- Menstrual Hygiene Management -For menstrual hygiene management, shelter level provisions shall be made through local administration for safe management and disposal of sanitary napkins / clothes. Field Officer (Disaster management) will monitor the installation of separate dustbins and the community volunteers like Pratirodhi bandhus/ Aapadamitra/ Civil Defence etc. will install dustbins at appropriate locations for such affected communities. Sanitary napkins have now been included under essential items for distribution during relief & therefore may be provided free of cost in such relief centers/ temporary shelters.
- Waste management- Due care shall be taken to manage and safely dispose garbage generated in the shelters following guidelines of solid and liquid waste management. Such a site shall be declared as no spiting zone, temporary drains to drain out water safely, and appropriate spraying of disinfection materials through relevant departments / Panchayat shall be made.
- Monitoring of Temporary shelters: VLMCC members / Panchayat members / VCDC members should be entrusted with the local level monitoring works of such shelters. However the District Administration will nominate one Govt. nodal officer who will be entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring and reporting about such temporary shelters.
- Feedback mechanism: The camp co-ordination committee will place a box or devise a mechanism for obtaining feedback from the people taking shelter in such camps regarding relief services, specific requirements for Isolation shelters etc. Feedback can be collected by the Gaon Burha and submitted to Local Administration/ Circle office.